


Ballad of A Thin Man

by EvenEcho



Series: Like A Rollin' Stone [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Creature Draco Malfoy, Creature Fic, Creature Harry Potter, Creature Luna Lovegood, Dark Harry Potter, Good Death Eaters, Good Severus Snape, Good Voldemort, Harry is Lord Black, Manipulative Dumbledore, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Severitus, Vampire Severus Snape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 15:49:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 66,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10722405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvenEcho/pseuds/EvenEcho
Summary: Sequel of 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2. Hopefully this will be a longer series. I have so many ideas. Thank you for stickin' around. Enjoy. :)

    This year’s birthday was much bigger than the previous year’s parties. This time the Weasleys came, all of them unfortunately. Harry sat between Draco and Fred and George. They were hovering over him. Fred and George were eating their second pieces of cake and Draco was munching on the strawberries, the one the twins didn’t want ruining their sweet cake, dipped in a little frosting and whipped cream. Harry watched as Arthur tried to play nice with Severus but Severus just scowled at him and Arthur shrunk in on himself. Severus had been moody lately, but then maybe it was just becoming more obvious to Harry because Severus was almost always moody. Marvolo was speaking with Molly in the hallway with Narcissa and Bellatrix was handing out cake to all the children. Ron refused to eat his claiming that it might be poisoned which made the twins take it and fight over who got that slice. Finally Harry took the slice and ate him while two redheads stared at him in shock. Pansy was ignoring Hermione who was ignoring Ron who was trying really hard to warn Hermione of the dangerous of being there as she was a muggle born and death eaters, which he claimed everybody in this house was, hated muggle borns. Arthur didn’t even try to put a stop to the slander his son was spewing but Harry reminded Ron, sickeningly polite, that he was indeed a half blood, and that even death eaters weren’t as superficial to care about blood status. He said that only elitists thought that way and not all death eaters were elitists just as not all light wizards were poor. That caused a small riot with Ron and Arthur stepped in and asked Harry to apologize and he refused. What right did Arthur have trying to get him to apologize when Ron was ruining his party by constantly dissing his family and death eaters.

    Marvolo, Molly and Narcissa walked into the room with smiles on their faces and with laughter. Molly had recently run into some money and had purchased nice clothes for her sons so they could be presentable in high society company. She also gave each child some money so they could purchase Harry a birthday present. Arthur found it all a little too convenient and he was starting to have a problem with his wife’s insistence on raising the children with knowledge of formal etiquette and eloquence. She had even bought a book on pureblood customs and had Ginny read it. Molly had gone insane! Arthur had taken the book away and confront Molly who just said that their children needed to know certain things so that they could thrive in the world. Arthur wanted to know which world she was living in.

     “Let’s open presents!” Bella squealed picking up the first few boxes and handing them to Harry who started to pull the wrapping paper off the present. He wasn’t nearly as cautious as he had been the previous years. Instead he was purely curious and needed to know what was under all this pretty paper. He got many nice things like his second ear piercing above his first (which had been done for Christmas) and this time he had let Pansy do it before the actual party so he could have her pierce his real ear without the glamour, and he had gotten really pretty earrings from Pansy. He had gotten more muggle things from Theo. He had gotten a walkman but it had been enchanted by Theo’s father to play without muggle batteries and technology. It used magic to play. Hermione had gotten him cassettes to go with Theo’s gift. He had gotten cassettes for Blondie, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam. He hadn’t heard any of them but he was excited to listen to them. Hermione said that they were good and made good music and Theo agreed. Bella had gotten him a rarer text that Harry didn’t name out loud and sort of hid away. It was of the lesser painful but equally dark curses. Things suitable for a child to know, or at least what she had learned at his age. Molly had gotten him a jumper, but it was hand knitted and it was dark purple with a large light purple ‘H’ on it.   
    “I was going to buy you something but I thought that I could make you a sweater instead. You don’t have to wear it, but I know you like purple, or at least that what’s Fred -- or was it George -- well, one of the boys told me. I hope you like it,” she didn’t expect the hug that she got and she hugged the child back, rubbing his back.

    “Thank you Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said, petting the sweater and then pulling it on over her shirt and rubbing the sleeve against his cheek. It was really soft. “It’s really soft, thank you so much!”

    “You’re welcome sweetheart.”

    The twins had let him open their present and when he did his hair was dyed bright purple and had green stripes horizontally. Harry smiled up at them and picked the box of sweets out of the box. He narrowed his eyes at the twins and opened the box he took a candy out and gave them each one and told them to eat them. They refused but after Harry insisted they ate them and Fred turned blue while George’s eyes grew to be the size of a house elf’s eyes. They both groaned and listened as Molly lectured them. Ron hadn’t gotten Harry anything but he tossed the money his mother gave him to purchase a gift at him. Harry sighed and gathered the money handing it to Mrs. Weasley.

    “I’m so sorry for his behaviour, dear,” Molly sighed, glaring at Ron who just crossed his arms and lifted his chin up. Ginny had gotten Harry a book on alchemy.

    “How did you know about my interest in alchemy?” He had asked and she blushed and shrugged.

    “I saw your alchemy section in the library, it looked well read and I saw notes on the table. I assumed they were yours because of the handwriting. I hope you like it.”

    “Thanks!” He hugged her and took the book. He added it to the things he had gotten. He got things from his father, Severus, the other Weasleys, Draco and Draco’s family but he either thanked them but didn’t really mean it, or he was going to thank them in private. He and the children his age, or around his age, went off to his room where he was going to let Ginny play with Sorm and Blaise wanted to see Sorn as well. The people who knew of Tonia didn’t bring her up. She had gotten a little bigger, big enough to release to the Chamber of Secrets the upcoming year, but she had to hide from the less accepting Weasleys in the dungeon. The adults sat around the table and Kreacher took the presents up to Harry’s room. He had only muttered about blood traitors and a mudblood a few times and one of the adults or Harry had made him stop talking very quickly so nobody got offended. Molly helped Bellatrix clear up the table and put the cake in the cooling cabinet before she took a seat between Narcissa and Bellatrix. Arthur was shocked and was staring at his wife, eyes narrowed in suspicion. What had happened? Molly had been so different. She had money, she was talking like a pureblood, she was trying to teach the children about wizarding traditions as if it were important, which Arthur firmly didn’t believe. She was a traitor and he was about to leave her and take the children. Her influence was bad on them. William and Charlie turned out weirder than he would have expected. He loved them, he loved all of his children, but they were also leaning to an opposing side politically and that was dangerous.

     “Thank you for the cake Mrs. Weasley, it was very delicious,” Marvolo smiled and poured her and the other ladies tea before Severus. Lucius just waved the cup away. He was busy trying to analyze Arthur. Was he just figuring it out? It had been little over a month and Arthur wasn’t really known for his intellect but he was always good at disliking others and he looked at his wife with disdain that he had never seen him wear before. Molly chatted with the other girls as if they had all been friends for years. She fit in, she was good at fitting in. She was good at being how a witch was supposed to be. She was smart and loving, powerful and determined and she was pretty damn independent when she wasn’t being guilted into subservience.

    “It’s never a problem. I’m glad that the kids liked it. I didn’t know that Heir Malfoy didn’t like cake, I would have made some fruit salad or something like a tart for him if he wanted. I will remember for next time,” Arthur’s frown deepened. _Next time_? There wasn’t going to be a next time. Severus tasted his tea and looked towards the door. Percy didn’t go to the room with Harry and neither did Ron. In fact a moment before Ginny went off with her other brothers and the Slytherins, Ron had tried to keep her back with him and Percy, claiming it was dangerous. She just scoffed at him and followed Pansy and Hermione who had each of her hands and was leading her up the stairs. Neither Bill nor Charlie had come to this event due to their work schedules. Bill was back at Gringotts breaking curses and then he was going to be off to Egypt soon enough to work on ancient tombs. Charlie had to go back to Romania. The dragons he cared for specifically were adverse to anyone other than Charlie trying to take care of them so he had to go back early to make sure the dragons were being taken care of properly. Arthur was glad his sons didn’t have to come to this party. The longer they stayed in the dark house, the easier it would be to give into temptations, although he didn’t feel it, he was sure the twins and Molly felt it. He was scared Ginny was being influenced wrongly as well.

    “He will be fine. He hasn’t been eating much sugar. It’s because he got sick over the sweets during the winter holidays. I’m sure he will never look at cake the same after what happened. Poor child,” Bella lied sweetly, flicking her eyes to Arthur who was tapping his cup against the table gently. It wasn’t enough to make much noise but there was definitely a steady clicking of glass against the table and Bellatrix was getting annoyed by the sound. Also, did he want to chip their nice tea set? That was rather rude. Bella almost sent a hex his way but Narcissa wrapped her arm around Molly and held her sister’s hand. Bella just relaxed and pouted.

    “...She’s bloody bonkers!” they all turned to see Ron and Percy in the hallway arguing, “They’re all a bunch of no good death eaters, the lot of them. I don’t see why mum is so taken with these traitors. She’s going to get us all killed. Malfoy and Black are just little arseholes,” he lowered his voice. “She’s probably in with them. I wouldn’t doubt if she was being buggered by that skinny bloke, the one with the snake eyes. He’s dead on the inside. She’s probably turned to the dark.”

    “Ronald Bilius Weasley!” Molly called, standing up and walking to her son. She grabbed him by the ear and pulled him out of the room. She gave both Ron and Percy an earful and Marvolo smiled, hearing every single world of it and Severus frowned, he also heard it all. He heard everything from Molly’s screeching to the conversation Harry was having with everyone upstairs. He knew they were all on the bed too by the sound of them shifting the blankets and the creak of the bed from having so many people on it. Molly came back into the room and went to Arthur. She waved him up and took him back out of the room. She came back in and they all heard the floo. She sat back down and shook her head.

    “I’m sorry,” she tried almost mournfully. “I tried to raise them better than this. Thankfully Ginny is still polite. I don’t know where I went wrong, I tried so hard.” Bellatrix rubbed her back as she hunched over.

    “You married a Weasley. That’s where you went wrong, but I’m glad you have everyone,” Bellatrix smiled and gasped, putting both hands on Molly’s shoulder. “Cissy, let’s take Molly out to that cafe in Paris. The one mother would take us to after her and father got into an argument. It’s quite nice and there’s really good food, great to indulge a little!”

    “I think that is a great idea. My Lord, if you don’t mind.”

    “Go ahead. We’ll watch the children, don’t worry. Take care of her, and remember, if you want to leave him, we can help you,” Marvolo watched as Narcissa and Bellatrix helped raised Molly and they went off to the floo. They were stopping at Malfoy Manor so they could get into nicer clothes that looked more muggle and appropriate for their destination. Molly had large breasts, but she was petite otherwise. She was soft though and very gentle. It’s what made her so fierce on the battlefield, nobody suspected the cute housewife to be deadly, but she was. Marvolo sighed and leaned back. “I really dislike those three. I would say we could kill them, but we haven’t killed anyone for a long while, I wouldn’t want to start killing now and especially not people that Molly still cares for.”

    “I’m just glad we got Bella a friend, I know she had been driving you insane and when she wasn’t pestering you she was whining at our manor and wanting to get into trouble,” Lucius finally said with a sigh. All the children ran down the stairs and back into the kitchen. Ginny had Sorm wrapped around her shoulders while the twins stood behind Harry on either side of him. Draco was to Harry’s right and Hermione was to his left. They looked like their own army. Marvolo smiled at them and raised an eyebrow.

    “What are you all doing down here? Ran out of things to do upstairs?”

    “I wanted to know if I could show them Tonia… Where did the others go?”

    “They went home, at least the other Weasley males. Molly went with your mother and Narcissa to get some tea or something like that,” Severus said dully. He didn’t like the idea of his son befriending anyone from the Weasley brood, but he was accepting them more. He hadn’t minded Molly, especially after she had apologized so sincerely. That had shocked him very much, and it could be worse. The twins had talent in potions, they had potential. They were great at making prank potions, things that would cause someone to have a fever or something along those lines. The often used them to get out of class, and Severus had to figure out their recipes and make counter potions so they could tell if they were really sick or not. After they missed half the first term, they decided that something had to be done about their ‘illness’.

    “Then we can definitely see Tonia?” Harry was enthusiastic, his little hands pushed together as if he were about to pray and his eyes wide with hope.

    “Go ahead,” Marvolo finally said and everyone ran out behind Harry to the dungeons to see Tonia. She was a little bigger than Sorm, but Sorm had gotten to span the length from Harry’s fingertips on his left hand, across his shoulders and to the fingertips on his right hand. Tonia was curled up and when the kids came in she sat up and listened to the children come in. She hissed and Harry told her it was okay and everyone started showering her with affection and she was purring, almost like a cat, but it was only noticeable to those who spoke parseltongue.

    As it grew into late evening, Molly came back to gather Ginny while Narcissa took Blaise, Theo and Pansy home and Harry and Marvolo took Hermione home. The twins and Draco were sleeping over and they had to make the bed a little bigger but all of them managed to get into the bed. Draco was possessive of Harry, almost as possessive as Harry was of Draco and the twins gave them their space, although they did like to fawn over both of the other boys. Harry was curled up against Draco and Fred and George were on either side of them and wrapped around them as well. They were just a giant ball of magical creature and they were comfortably warm. There was a safe feeling that they all got from being around each other, like they could trust each other with their deepest secrets, that they were just _safe_ with each other. Severus and Marvolo came in one last time and told them all goodnight before they went to their own room. Lucius and Narcissa left and Bella went to bed, Rudolphos came in later after she was already asleep.

 

    Harry woke up surrounded by heat and he opened his eyes and saw Draco and felt someone at his back. He panicked for a moment before he realized it was Fred and he cuddled back against Fred who just tightened his hold on him. Draco was still asleep and even though he would never admit it there was a small trail of drool leaking from the corner of his mouth. He drooled and got eye crusties like the rest of them, even if he was some high and mighty light elf. After another hour of just relaxing in the warm presence of others, George stirred away and was followed soon after by Fred. Fred and George both pushed up and got off the bed as stealthily as they could. Harry shook Draco until he woke up. Draco wiped the drool from his mouth quickly and rubbed his eyes. He looked around and smiled down at Harry before sitting up and stretching.

    “Where are the twins?”

    “They just got up, I think they went to the bathroom,” Draco just tilted his head to the side. Whatever, he didn’t need to know anything about that. He lay back down and rolled to face away from Harry.

    “Hold me for a moment,” Draco insisted, wiggling back against Harry until Harry acquiesced and lay down behind him. Harry wrapped an arm around Draco and pulled him to his chest. “Did you sleep well?”

    “Very well. You?”

    “Ditto,” Draco yawned and he blinked slowly, trying to wake himself up but failing. It was so comfortable in bed, he could stay there forever and ever and just sleep with Harry. It was so warm and soft and he loved it, but Harry had to get up and go to the bathroom when the twins came back into the room and then Draco waited for Harry to come back before he went to the bathroom as well. He didn’t know why they weren’t using Harry’s personal bathroom, but the door had been closed all night and Harry hadn’t used it once so he assumed something was wrong with it. All the boys headed down to the dining room where there were waffles and sliced fruits spread out around the table. Marvolo walked out of his room and made his way to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee before going to the dining room and sitting down at the head of the table as usual. Severus followed soon after Bella arrived and Rudolphos grabbed a waffle and went back to the room to do whatever it is that he did. Probably pout or something. Wasn’t he supposed to be out trying to sway the Bulgarian Minister or something? Harry didn’t know, but he wondered why he just sat around all day, although he seemed to either be lazing around or gone. He wasn’t very present in Harry’s life and nobody minded. Draco served himself mango slices. He loved mango, he just didn’t get it often because his parents never saw a reason to buy mangoes. Harry’s house always had them though and Harry ate the slippery pieces of orange fruit before popping a few blueberries into his mouth and then covering his waffle in whipped cream and strawberries. He was just as bad as the twins who were drowning their food in syrup and then they added whipped cream and then all the sweetest fruits like peaches, strawberries and bananas. Severus ate some honeydew and drank his coffee, hunched over, just trying to wake up. He really hated waking up. It was the worst part of the day, except when he taught, then the entire day was the worse part of the day and waking up was just as bad of a nightmare, but more because of what was bound to happen not because of the actual act. Marvolo drank his own coffee and paid the bird when he came and dropped off the newspaper. He sighed and tossed it aside after reading the headline. Something about a scandal in the ministry. Whatever it was, if it was important, he would hear about it from Lucius later. He didn’t even know why he bothered with the Daily Prophet.

    The twins were up and running around and finally Severus locked himself in the library to get away from the chaos which lead to Bella banging her fists against the door calling for him.   
    “I’m relaxing, go annoy your husband!” Severus called back to her and she stomped her foot, huffed and walked off. Kreacher was trying his hardest to pick up after the rambunctious children but he was old, very old, even for a house elf and he could feel his little bones scraping together as he bent over to pick up trash and other things that needed to be put back into their places.

    Finally both redheads sat down on the sofa in the main room and calmed down. Their chests heaving due to the exertion of being chaotic. Draco and Harry caught up to them, having been left upstairs. Fred had a pocket full of shiny coins and other things while George had taken a handful of cookies. They were much better than the ones their mother made, and their mother’s food was always delicious. Bella just had a hint of crazy that she put into everything which made it all the more interesting and the twins liked anything interesting (different). George pulled out a cookie from his pocket. It was oval shaped and it was covered in cute little designs, but the designs were mostly severed stick figures and gushing blood, they still tasted delicious and he took large bites. Harry watched and wondered how he didn’t choke but then he knew he took equally large mouthfuls of food.

    “Fred, George, your mother would like you home by noon and it’s almost half eleven, why don’t you gather up your things and relax until you have to leave,” Marvolo suggested, also having been locked out of the library, so he carried his book and sat down in the living area and prayed to sweet Hecate that the boys wouldn’t start up again. They nodded and got up to go get their dirty shirts and smelly socks so they could take them home. Didn’t need to leave those things behind. Harry sighed and Draco groaned, both collapsing against each other in the loveseat. Marvolo looked at them and smirked. “Aren’t they just an enthusiastic duo,” he felt like Harry was cursing him in his mind and Draco’s glare gave him the same impression.

    “I don’t know how they have so much energy. We’re practically the same. They say it’s a fae thing, but I’m not like that. Draco isn’t even close to being that energetic even when he eats two boxes of Honeydukes.”

    “I would like to let you know that I haven’t eaten Honeydukes since our transformation, so it’s not applicable. I would also like to say that they’re crazy! We’ve been awake for three hours and I’m ready for bed again. They’re faster than the Nimbus 2000.”

    “Yeah,” Harry sighed, but it was full of affection for his friends. The twins ran back down and pushed their way against Harry and Draco and rubbed against them. Draco felt George’s sweat on his shoulder and he twitched. How gross. But he didn’t push him away, his body felt as soft as a rotten pumpkin, he was worn down and out.   
    “Did you just scent mark us?” Harry finally asked and Fred and George just nodded. They looked to the clock and pulled away, giving both boys kisses on their cheeks before they thanked Marvolo and Bella (since Severus was still in his sanctuary) and used the floo to get home. Harry stood up and wobbled before stumbling over to his father.

    “You stink like them. I suggest you take a shower. Is it common to scent other fae?” Marvolo had a professional curiosity with the fae, more on a working level rather than a purely innocent curiosity based on his son. It was good information to know and it was quite valuable if they had to deal with some sort of resurgence of the species at a later date (as gorgons, two-thirds of the time, were immortal). Harry stood up and went to drag Draco along.   
    “We’re going to take a shower--”

    “No you’re not. One at a time. You’re too old to be bathing together and I have finally started writing a contract between you two. It’s very inappropriate at this point. Though you may take showers in separate bathrooms. The guest bedroom has a functional shower if Draco would like to use that one.”

    “Isn’t your bathroom broken though, Harry?” Draco asked, leaning against his friend who held him up as a support.

    “No, I have something in there for you. I don’t want you to see it yet though. I thought we could use the guest bathroom. Hmm… okay, I’ll use my bathroom. You go to the guest room. I’ll let you borrow some of my clothes,” _then you’ll smell like me_. Harry cut himself off but it didn’t stop him from thinking about having Draco smell like him. That was such an intimate thing, was it not? Harry sure thought so. Marvolo got up and lead the boys to separate bathrooms before leaving to go to pry the library door open so he could get inside and relax in the peace and quiet that it provided. Draco got into the shower and nearly fell asleep standing up. He didn’t feel like falling and dying that day, so he sat down and washed his body and his hair (his hair because he loved feeling it all soapy and slick) and then he rinsed himself. Harry did a similar thing but with him there was a warg pup in his shower trying to eat the spray of water and shaking off water.

    Harry got out and dried himself off before drying off Tyr. He fixed the blankets in the corner of the bathroom and promised to bring him more food when he came back and he left the light on the the pup. He went to his closet after putting on trousers and a shirt and found Draco searching through his clothes, holding his towel up. He finally pulled down a regular robe, like a bathrobe, and put it on. He turned to walk out of the room and jumped.

    “When did you get there?”

    “About a half minute ago. You realize I have clothes in my drawers as well. Or are you fond of that fluffy thing? I feel like you always take it for yourself,” Harry crossed his arms and pulled down a summer robe with shorter sleeves and put it on, buttoning it up. Draco just tied the robe up and went to sit on Harry’s bed. Draco petted his chest, stroking the robe as it felt nice on his fingers. He was interrupted by Harry who sat beside him and pulled him back on the bed. “Did you hear what father said though? He’s writing a contract. We’re going to have a contract,” he threw a leg around Draco. Draco smiled and turned over to face Harry.

    “Yeah, I hope you don’t decide you hate me later in life though,” Draco’s smile faded as he thought about them fighting and growing apart. Harry reached up and rested his hand on Draco’s cheek.

    “If we fight, we will make up. I love you. That means a lot, hmm?”

    “Okay,” Draco covered Harry’s hand with his hand and closed his eyes. “We should move, we can’t get caught in moments like these. It’s improper.”

    “Well, as long as we _don’t get caught_ , we’ll be fine,” Harry almost wanted to push forward and kiss him, but he also didn’t want to. He wanted to kiss him, because he liked kissing Draco, people kissed when they liked each other and they kissed a lot when they loved each other, but he had gotten informed about contracts and customs and kissing usually wasn’t allowed. He hoped that they could still sleep in the same bed, it would probably be prohibited once the contract was official, but they could only hope that Marvolo, Severus, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Lucius disagreed on so many things that it didn’t become official until they only had maybe a year or two until they could do all of those things again.

    “Harry… I um -- well -- I mean -- so… nevermind. I don’t know how to say it. The words aren’t flowing, they just, my brain has stopped functioning for some reason.”

    “Well, when you remember what you wanted to say, then you can tell me. Tell me as soon as your remember so you don’t forget it. We should go make an appearance before they come looking for us, and I mean Marvolo. You should put some pants on at least, by the way.”

    “I’ll put pants on if I want to, and I won’t if I don’t,” Harry stood up and pulled Draco up to his feet. Draco dug through Harry’s drawer full of bottoms, but digging through clothes when it came to Draco meant he was very careful, especially when they weren’t his clothes and they were folded as nicely as Harry’s were (obviously from Kreacher’s skilled hands). Draco pulled on a pair of muggle pants, he didn’t know what they were called but they were soft and were held up with this thing called ‘elastic’. He didn’t know any wizard items that used such a substance, but Harry had apparently insisted on purchasing these type of lounge pants. Draco followed Harry down to the library where Severus was listening to Marvolo drone on about something. Whatever it was, Severus didn’t look very impressed and he had an eyebrow raised at him as if what he was hearing couldn’t be anything but a tall tale. Marvolo stopped talking when Harry cleared his throat. He turned to face his son.

    “I was just telling Severus about the French Ministry. Did you know that they have a completely different view on magical creatures than we do here? I remember during my time in Asia and my brief stint in Africa that they also had very different opinions on things such as inheritances and part humans. The schools in Asia and the one in Africa admit creature children who show promise with magic as if they were normal wizards. Also, in Uagadou, the African school of magic, the children are taught and expected to be able to be full animagi as a right of magical passage. I hear that their education is very good, that it’s thorough and once again, they don’t differentiate the types of magic.”

    “That sounds very interesting, father,” Harry smiled at Severus who rolled his eyes and put his book down and waved for him to join him on the sofa. Harry took a seat and Draco moved to sit in the chair across from Severus.

    “Severus doesn’t think so,” Marvolo sighed and looked down at his folders full of different paperwork. Some needed signatures others needed to be revised and a few were notes that needed to be known by him, not as Marvolo, but as Voldemort, as The Dark Lord. He leaned over in his chair and arranged things on the coffee table. Severus had a charms text in his lap.

    “Charms? Read everything you could find on potions?”

    “No. I don’t want to exhaust my interest. Sometimes taking a break for things you love only remind them that you love them even more when you return to them,” he looked down at the book and closed it. “And it was Lily’s. I was feeling sentimental.”

     “I see,” Harry leaned against Severus and he wrapped an arm around his son. “What is the stone being used for?”

    “I forgot that you would be curious. It is alchemy after all…” Marvolo mumbled absentmindedly as he flipped through the scribbled notes. Harry didn’t know how his father could read such atrocious handwriting. “It’s being turned into a potion and studied by some of my trusted. They are trying to figure a way to replicate the stone, or in case it is a natural phenomenon, they are trying to find where more can be located. These will be given to my inner circle. The ones who will not be taking on their creature cores anyway. I realize that many of our creatures are immortal or live a very long life. In time, those of us who live for maybe five thousand years will have access to the elixir of life, if we still wish to be alive that it. Five thousand years is a very long time to be in this realm, don’t you think?”

     “I do think so. Do we know who we will be preforming the ritual on next?”

    “Yes, we do,” Marvolo answered, looking up at Harry who was curled up against Severus’ side. Severus had switched gears and was summoning books to himself and levitating others back. Marvolo wondered what Severus was looking for, but he couldn’t see the faded titles from so far away. His eyesight may have improved but nobody had gotten their senses enhanced anywhere close to how Severus’ had been. “The Malfoys, Bellatrix and Bartimus. The ritual will be performed when you are at school though. I will summon Narcissa and we will hopefully find a suitable replacement until she is able to return to Hogwarts. We will use the previous method as I don’t want to use you or Draco’s blood,” Marvolo flipped the page of notes and summoned a quill and ink to him before he signed off on a proposition put forth by one of his outer circle who had taken their concern to his inner circle. The idea was good enough to be taken to him and he agreed, it was very clever indeed.

     Harry nodded, he understood. Draco looked as if he couldn’t be more bored, and Harry had seen him in Professor Binn’s class.

    “Ah!” Marvolo shouted, lifting up the document he had been looking at. “We have reinstated a few classes including a physical training class and a law class, we haven’t gotten our professors in yet, at least any more so than we have now, but those classes will be offered now,” Marvolo put the papers back in the folder and flicked his wand. The folder filed itself in the large trunk full of filed documents before all the locks snapped back shut on it. He stood up and stretched his arms up.

    “I’m curious as to why you weren’t given this news in person,” Severus drawled suddenly.

    “Most of my inner circle is out of the country. It’s only you, Bella, the Malfoys and the others at the ministry that are here. I even sent Crabbe Sr. away. He went to the Soviet Union to speak with their officials. Everyone has been put to work, it’s been so long since we held a meeting. Our new member was the last meeting we had and that was weeks ago.”

    “Hmmm,” Severus looked down at his book and then back up to Marvolo who was staring down at him. “You’re staring.”

    “You just seem,” he motioned with his hands. “ _Dismissive_.”

    “That’s because I dismissed you,” Severus stood up and Harry nearly fell back but he caught himself. Severus wasn’t wearing his robes, but just his shirt and trousers. He looked very sleek and he set the book down and walked to stand in front of Marvolo who had his hands on his hips, waiting for something. Harry didn’t know what but Draco scampered away from them and to Harry. They watched this interaction. This was bound to be interesting, but perhaps it wasn’t the best demonstration of interpersonal relationships, and not a good example to be setting for the children. Or at least that is how it seemed. As if they were about to argue, that is until Marvolo slid his fingers over Severus’ jaw and behind his head, pulling him closer. Severus kissed Marvolo quickly before he pulled away and walked out of the room.

    “Are we ever going to be like that?” Harry whispered to Draco.

    “No, because I’m going to snog you until you can’t walk straight,” Harry blushed and leaned against Draco. Marvolo sat back down and leaned on his elbow which was on the arm of his chair.   
    “I heard all of that,” Marvolo let them know with a sigh. He summoned their contract from inside the writing desk. He read over it and started to write more down to it. Rough drafts and all that good stuff. Harry and Draco moved forward to try and read what was being written but to them the letters floated around on the page. That wasn’t fair. Marvolo just chuckled deeply, a rumbling laugh, before he continued to add and take things away, feeling both boys try and put the letters together and he knew they wouldn’t be able to put anything together.

 

    Three days after their school letters came in, they all decided to go out to Diagon Alley. Like the previous year it was Severus, Harry, Draco, Lucius, Narcissa and their friends. This time however, Molly Weasley and Bellatrix joined them along with the Weasley brood. They were a massive group of children with a nice pocket of adults to watch over them. Harry almost didn’t recognize Mrs. Weasley when she arrived. She had a beautiful robe on, pale green with off-white and dark purple embroidering (that she did herself), her hair was in a braided updo with a pretty hair clip made with stunning jewels and shining silver. Narcissa regarded her with a nod and she held Ginny’s hand, she looked as beautiful and kept as her mother. She also looked very happy and excited. All the children headed out to find their books and to gather potion ingredients. All the children had crowded into the apothecary until Severus kicked them all out and gathered them for everyone, paying with a culmination of everyone’s galleons. He had to keep in mind he was helping some fourth years, a first year and a group of second years when picking out ingredients. He kept the three students interested in potions behind, Draco, Harry and Hermione, Bellatrix stayed behind as well so Hermione didn’t feel uncomfortable.

    They all headed to the bookstore and none other than Gilderoy Lockhart was signing books. Molly, for a moment, was excited but then she thought about what she knew about Lockhart and she turned her nose up at him, gathering the books that Ginny couldn’t reach (although she wasn’t much taller, but she also had help from Lucius who was very tall). Fred and George were actually trying to behave but that didn’t stop them from tossing a dung bomb at Lockhart’s feet as they were leaving the store. While they were halfway down the street, people started to rush out of Flourish & Blotts covering their noses. Molly didn’t mind this though and just smiled at her two troublemakers, if she were to lecture them she would wait until they were home anyway, no need to startle others with her screeching, yes she was aware she had a tendency to screech. Everyone sat at the table to eat lunch in the Leaky Cauldron and Molly left to take Ginny to get her wand. Pansy was speaking with Blaise about Millicent and Hermione was talking with Theo and Harry about what she had done over the summer. She said that she had visited France with her parents and had bought a book to learn basic French. She did show an interest in foreign languages as she thought it would be excellent to read original works in their original language. She also told them that she would be taking Ancient Runes when third year came.

    “Let’s hope that there won’t be another troll during Halloween this year,” Blaise laughed and Harry just gave a polite smile. That definitely wasn’t a laughing matter, but he agreed nonetheless. He didn’t want to face another troll, or have Severus save him from one either. Hermione ate her soup and dipped her sourdough bread roll into her cheesy stew before taking a bite. She hadn’t eaten at the Leaky Cauldron before but what she had ordered was quite delicious and Bellatrix had insisted on paying for her after hearing Theo’s talk about how she was the smartest witch of this generation. Bellatrix hadn’t seen anything to prove this but if she was then she would be a good ally and friend for Hadrian. Hermione was nervous around Bella and Narcissa. She had been told they were mean and evil, but they were both very polite and generally courteous. Even Lucius was polite to her. Severus was the only one who was sort of rude but he was always like that and Hadrian had told her that she should take his attitude with a grain of salt. Mrs. Weasley was very different than when Hermione had last seen her and never did she think that Ron came from such a woman.

    Ronald was sitting at his own table with Percy, Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan who had their parents with them as well. Lady Augusta Longbottom was staring across the hall at Bellatrix with fury in her eyes and Mr. Finnigan sat beside her. He was trying to talk casually and distract her from her target but nothing was working. Finally Ron sat up, his chair tilting over and hitting the floor.

    “She killed your bloody parents, how can you be ‘okay’ with him?” He shouted and a cup of juice was dropped by Neville who drew away.

    “H-he’s not b-bad. He h-helped me, he is n-nice,” Neville was so scared, he just wished that he could go back home and be determined a squib so he didn’t have to deal with anything like this. He looked to his Gran who was glaring daggers at the back of Bellatrix’s head and he could tell Bella knew by the way she was sitting and finally Hadrian turned around to see what was the matter while everyone else tried to ignore the outburst. Even Molly who would deal with it at home. Seamus nodded his head furiously and Mr. Finnigan called for Seamus so he could discipline him.

    “I apologize for his behaviour,” Molly told her table, “I feel like we need to leave so nothing else is said that may cause harm. Ginny, boys,” Molly stood up and dropped her galleons on the table, enough for their food and for Ronald and Percy’s as well as Neville’s. She walked around the table and grabbed Ron’s wrist and Percy knew what was happening so he walked to her side very obediently. “Neville, I paid for your meal. I hope you have an excellent rest of the day and I will hopefully see you at the platform. If I don’t then I wish you a great year!”

    The Weasleys made their exit as Molly’s ushering and Neville got up and went to his gran. His food abandoned. He felt too sick to eat anyway. Lady Longbottom took Neville and disapparated home with him. Mr. Finnigan made Seamus floo home while he collected the rest of the supplies he needed for the year, as he hadn’t gotten potion ingredients yet.

    “That was interesting,” Bella finally said. She looked around the table.

    “I’m sorry for their behaviour, Madam Black. Ronald has been trying to convince me that you were all evil since I first came to Diagon. I don’t see how he can think that of you. Thank you for this outing, but I think I should go home. Thank you so much, and I will see you at the platform, I will look for you,” she high-fived Theo, which always made Theo so happy. Narcissa nodded.

    “Of course dear, let’s apparate you home. Do you have everything?” Hermione nodded and Narcissa apparated her home before coming back. She sat back down and looked at everyone. “I think that she is uncomfortable because she still deep down has been influenced to believe that we are evil. I am glad that Heir Longbottom doesn’t hold grudges, although if he did it is understandable.”

    “Of course,” Bella whispered, thinking back to torturing the Longbottoms with Bartimus and Rudolphos. Harry just lifted a large chunk of stewed beef to his mouth and ate it, looking down at his bowl but them up at his mother who sat beside him. She was twitching, her hands were fidgeting and she excused herself. She kissed Harry’s cheek, kissed Narcissa’s cheek and hugged Draco before flooing back to Grimmauld Place. Soon after Narcissa helped and made sure each of the other children got home safely before she, Lucius and Draco headed back to their manor and Severus and Hadrian walked back out into the alley. Severus made sure that he had Harry’s hand and he held him tight.

    “Stay close to me and don’t look at anyone, you know the rules of Knockturn.”

    Going into Knockturn Alley was different with Severus than it was with Bellatrix. Nobody dared to bother Bellatrix or the people with her. They were all scared of her no matter how sane she claimed to be, she was still very much a threat, she was still very dangerous. Severus however wasn’t as known and was still looked down upon. Not only because there was still prejudice about half bloods (no matter how hard they all tried to ignore it) and he wasn’t known to be a fighter, his skill was constantly doubted and while he didn’t excel at being a soldier, he definitely healed and made sure that they could continue fighting and sometimes just stabilizing them to keep them living.

    They walked into the apothecary and the man behind the counter glared at Severus, and Severus looked away and took Harry down the aisles and to the ingredients he needed. He gathered a small package of wolf liver and a fully preserved grindylow corpse.   
    “What are you making?”   
    “The elixir,” Severus replied moving quickly through the aisles and scanning the labels. He plucked things that he needed and just looked at others and checked prices. He had an unlimited amount for potions funded by the Dark Lord, but he didn’t want to take advantage of that privilege. He gathered a few more things and they walked to the counter. Severus set down the ingredients and the man watched him set everything down.

    “What are you making, Prince?”

    “Something special,” Severus crossed his arms and waited for the man to name his price. It should be around sixty galleons, seventy if he was feeling like a jerk that day.

    “For You-Know-Who?”

    “No.”

    “Seventy-three galleons,” he glared down at Harry who was shrinking potion ingredients and sliding them into Severus’ pocket while Severus fished out and counted the correct amount of galleons. “Don’t bring little kiddies into my shop again. Have you gone daft? Who’s child is this anyway?”

    “Bellatrix Lestrange’s. I’m sure he can come in anytime he feels like it, _Ovid_.”

    “Whatever, get out of my shop,” Severus sneered and took Harry’s hand before he led him out of the shop and back to Diagon. Severus let Harry floo home first before following him. Marvolo was sitting outside of the door that led down to the dungeons and duelling room. Marvolo looked up at Severus.

    “What’s going on?” Harry asked as Severus walked past him to get past the library and to the potion lab. He unshrunk everything from his pockets and put them up in his cabinets and storage.

    “Your mother has been practicing ever since she got home. She had Kreacher lock her in until she asked him to let her out. She said she didn’t want us going down there. She’s just blowing off steam… I’m just worried. How would you feel if Ms. Parkinson was upset, that’s sort of how I feel for your mother.”

    “Oh. I understand,” Harry sat down beside Marvolo. “I hope she calms down soon. I would like to hug her like I always do before bed. Maybe she just needs a hug,” Marvolo smiled and ran his fingers through Harry’s hair.

    “Maybe, but she doesn’t want us right now, so we’re going to let her calm herself down. It’s safer for everyone that way,” Harry leaned against Marvolo and sighed. Severus walked into the hall and rested against the opposite wall. “Why don’t we go discuss that contract I’ve been writing up. I have most of it finished but I would like to speak to you about it before I ask Lucius to look at it.”

    “Alright, let’s go look at it,” Harry jumped up and grabbed Severus’ hand. “Can you come too?”

    “Yes, of course.”

    They all walked to the library and Marvolo went to the desk and unlocked the drawer before he released the wards on the contract and then he stopped the spell making the letters float around so that Harry and Severus could read it. He sat down on the sofa and pulled Harry to him. Severus sat beside him and Marvolo held it out so that they could both see the contract.

 

    There were a lot of honesty vows and scapegoats if anyone wanted out of the contract. However there was the bit about children that worried Harry. 

Harry stopped reading and put his hand over the contract. He wouldn’t read the rest, he couldn’t, he was too nervous with questions that he was scared to have answered. 

Harry stopped reading and put his hand over the contract.

    “Father… which one of us is going to have babies?” Harry looked concerned and Marvolo tried to keep a straight face but he couldn’t help but to give a sad looking smile. He took a breath.

    “Would you be opposed to having the children? Lucius made a few things clear when I finally had him agree. Although this is extremely good for the Malfoy name, to marry into the Slytherin family, it is also something that neither family has done for generations. My mother’s family were so focused on being of pureblood that they didn’t marry outside of the family and the Malfoys have never had a same sex couple, at least not in recorded history, which is around the time that these magics were forgotten and hidden and taught orally until they were transcribed, like the books we have here.”

    “Me? With babies? I’d get all fat! I can’t have a baby in my stomach, Draco wouldn’t like me anymore!” Harry was up on his knees, his had both hands on his father’s left shoulder. Severus leaned forward slightly.

    “I’m sure he would still adore you as he does now,” Severus thought about what he was going to say carefully. If he worded something wrong then Harry could get all finicky and panic or he could just ignore this until he was older, which wasn’t a horrible idea. They were both still so young, that’s why there were so many ways that they could call it off if they wanted to avoid the contract. “I wouldn’t know, but I remember seeing how happy Lucius was when he saw Narcissa pregnant with Draco and how happy Lily was when she was with you.”

    “But it hurts, right? It has to hurt, how is the baby going to come out of me? Are they going to have to cut me open?” Harry was almost in tears. He had thought about having children but he hadn’t had it so _real_. It wasn’t like this before. Marvolo pulled him to his side and kissed the top of his head.

    “I don’t know how it would work, but I’m sure that they would have to perform a surgery to extract the child.”

    “I wouldn’t want Draco to have to go through that though, either… Okay… is it written that I have to have a baby?”

    “Actually, there is a minimum of one but the ideal number of children would be three, I can explain why, so don’t panic. Take a deep breath,” Marvolo started breathing and Harry followed along until he started to cry again and rub his face against Marvolo’s side. Marvolo just petted his head and rubbed his shoulders until he calmed down. Harry started to calm down and he wiped his eyes again before sitting back up. “Would you like to know why now?”

    “Yes.”

    “Well, your family will have three titles to pass onto your children. It would be hard for one child to carry all three titles, so having three children would help spread out and give a higher chance of the line’s survival. For example if you have one child then he or she will have all three titles and would have to find a way to pass on all those lines and if they don’t have children then all three lines die. If you have three children then one line may live on or all lines may live on, it would be easier for them to keep the family alive… I also realize that you will be alive for a very long time, so you don’t have to worry about having children too soon, you can wait as long as you need.”

    “What if he wants babies soon after we’re married though?”

    “Then, you will have to agree to disagree until you’re comfortable or you can let him have your children,” Marvolo waved his hand abstractly in the air as if that solved everything and Harry looked down at the contract. It was blurry but there were still tears in his eyes and that film over the eyes that happens after you cry. Harry plucks the contract from his father’s hands so he could look at it and see it better. Even with his enhanced eyesight, his eyes couldn’t focus or stabilize enough to read from a distance.

    “I can’t focus. Can we continue this tomorrow. I want to take a bath.”

    “Yes, of course. Grab some food for Tyr while you’re on your way and I think Sorm and Tonia would like to be fed also,” Marvolo said as Harry got up and went to the kitchen to grab food for Tyr and then food for the mice he kept. He fed his pets before letting the mice run free as soon as he got Sorm and Tonia’s attention. They were out hunting and in the bath, Tyr decided to join him and splash in the water and roll around before getting the floor all wet. Tyr was so small but he knew that he would be very big and that he was also very illegal, but that never stopped him before. He did have a pet basilisk and that was also very illegal, in Britain anyway. It was allowed in other parts of the world, besides the USA.

    Harry got out of the bath and dried off before he let Tyr out of the bathroom and he jumped up on his bed and walked in a circle a few times before he lay down and waited for Harry to turn out the light.


	2. Chapter 2

    Albus Dumbledore had gathered his staff back together, and no matter how much he wanted to exclude the new professors and Madam Malfoy, he had to invite them as it was proper and he didn’t need any lawsuits filed for being unjust. He had enough trouble legally at the moment and he didn’t want to deal with anything more. It was tiring and he was an old man. Did they want him to die? Just keel over from stress or something!? At the head table, which he had to lengthen to add two more seats to, sat all their professors and head healer. The new law professor was Johnathan Yaxley, who was a supporter of Tom and Dumbledore had no authority to rid of him, and the physical health professor Darlene Braxen. Albus walked up to the table where all the professors were sitting for their dinner as it was three days before school would start and two days before the children would arrive. Narcissa had requested to move seats so she could sit beside Severus rather than Dumbledore as Madam Pomfrey had in the past. He of course allowed it because he in no way wanted to have contact with her. Her husband wants to force him out of his position as headmaster and he knew for a fact that he had buried the paperwork for the adoption of Harry Potter. He had seen it, but he hadn’t a clear memory, just the feeling, and he hadn’t been able to find said paperwork since. It also was curious as he had been limited to which documents he was able to see. This was also Lucius’ doing, of course. Who else could it be? 

    Dumbledore considered Severus a friend though and to see him so close to the enemy, although he knew it was necessary, was uncomfortable and he only felt the need to put a tighter leash on him. The man hardly ate, he was pale and skinny, he shook often and he barely drank his tea. Dumbledore was not a stupid man, but he knew that something was wrong but what it was had floored him. He made note to ask if he was alright, one could never be too sure. Severus could be in a very dangerous situation, especially since he took part in being a high risk individual in the name of the greater good. But that didn’t mean that Albus wanted to lose him, when the time was right, Severus would have to stand up and take charge and lead the Saviour, once Albus found him, to defeat Voldemort. 

    “...Albus?” Minerva called, this was the first time Dumbledore heard his name. He looked to her. 

    “I’m sorry Minnie, my hearing must be deteriorating. What was it that you were saying?” What about the stone? That was a failure. What was he going to tell Nicholas, he would be very cross with Albus, he knew this for a fact. The French were good at holding grudges. 

    “I asked how we were going to arrange the schedules to fit the new classes? Particularly physical health, isn’t that common for muggles? You would know more than I do about that,” Minerva shook her head and took her glasses off. They fell around her neck as if she had a spectacle necklace. She served herself food and then served Albus a serving of what he favoured.    
    “Thank you,” Albus started as he picked up his fork and knife. “I do believe that it is a common requirement for muggle schools. The School Board of Governors feels like it would be beneficial to have the children stay in peak physical shape. It is an idea that I do not disagree with. In fact, it will help the students who wish to go into becoming Aurors, since they need to pass training and testing and it is always good to have the stamina and be in shape enough to protect oneself. We never know what could happen with this war,” he cut a piece of his steak as he spoke and took a bite after he was finished. It wasn’t tough for his teeth but despite his old age he had very healthy teeth. Magic was a wonderful thing. 

    “I understand and can see where they come from. I do say that Darlene is very fit, she was helping Rolanda carry the brooms out of their closets and into the broom shed. She is very strong it seems as she didn’t use the levitation charm and instead carried them up and held them on her shoulders. I heard that she used to work in a sideshow,” Minerva wasn’t one for gossip. She didn’t like it, but she was impressed with Darlene, especially since she was sure that Darlene was a squib. She had no problems with squibs, but she knew that some people would and she also saw how the new professor was trying her hardest to prove herself to the witches and wizards who were going to be working with her. Darlene may not have been a wizard but she was a half giant like Hagrid, but she was still very pretty in a tomboyish way. Minerva looked across the table at her and smiled. Darlene smiled back sweetly and cut into a potato. “Do you know how a half giant could become a squib, Albus?” Minerva whispered her question so that Darlene wouldn’t be able to hear. 

    “Their magical cores either never fully develop, never exist or are drained before or soon after birth. It is a sad fate. Or perhaps her parents were not magical. I honestly don’t know. I think my first suggestions are correct though… I will research this, I find it good to be knowledgeable about these kinds of things,” Albus continued to eat and Minerva tucked in as well. 

    Narcissa had her hand resting on the top of Severus’ shaking thigh. He had a cup of tea in front of him and he had pushed his food around on his plate but didn’t eat any of it. He had raised his fork to his mouth but he never took a bite. He was nervous because he could randomly feel eyes on him and they weren’t the indifferent orbs of Narcissa, not the unimportant glances from worried half-goblins, they were from the headmaster and he felt like he was being stripped and dissected. Perhaps it was irrational, but it didn’t stop him from being nervous. His leg stopped shaking as Narcissa held his leg down and she smiled and looked at him, bending down slightly to look up at his face. 

    “Are you alright? I’m sure the headmaster wouldn’t mind if you called Hadrian, I know you’re worried about him. Perhaps we should strengthen the wards, I heard about the troll. I understand why you’re worried,” she spoke softly but she also spoke loud enough so that others could hear what she said. She wanted them to believe that Severus was simply worried for his child, not worried for something that could change his life (not as if something happening to Hadrian wouldn’t change his life, but then again he just would make sure that nothing happened to Hadrian which was stressful in itself). Filius offered a glance of sympathy before excusing himself. He made sure to tap Severus’ shoulder and offer him a space to talk if he needed it. He brought up wishing to have children and feeling worried for his students. He also said that he wouldn’t know the sort of worry, but he was sure that Hadrian would be fine. Filius didn’t fully believe that Severus was nervous about Hadrian. While he thought that it was a possibility, his Ravenclaw mind was telling him that something was wrong with Severus. Perhaps he was ill, or he was working with some difficult bad news. 

    “Thank you Filius,” Severus said and the man nodded and walked down the steps and through the teacher’s lounge and then to his quarters. Next was Hagrid to ask to go, he waved to Darlene who was going to be sleeping in a room that was very close to Hagrid’s hut, closer than the other rooms anyway as it was still part of the castle and didn’t bulge out, it was an old abandoned classroom that they converted for her use. She had also brought her pet cat, a Norwegian Forest cat as she was from Northern Europe and they were abundant and common there and very expensive. Next was Aurora and Irma who everyone knew were messing around together but nobody dared to ask or say anything regarding their supposedly secret relationship. They were all adults and nobody wanted to get into any discussion about their coworker’s romantic interests. Finally Minerva excused herself and wished everyone a good night and reminded them all of the meeting the following day to make sure that everything was up to par and ready for the upcoming school year. Yaxley left and went to his rooms which were close to Severus’ and Narcissa left to her rooms, letting Severus know that she was there if he needed anything and that she did understand as she missed Draco as well. The rest of the professors went off, leaving Severus and Albus. Severus didn’t leave because he wanted to ask Albus what had him so curious but before he could say anything Albus moved across the table and sat beside him. 

    “Is everything alright, my dear boy?” 

    “Yes, Albus. Why were you staring at me?” 

    “Always observant,” Albus laughed. It was warm, which hid how cold he truly was. “I am worried for your health. I would ask you to take a potion but then I realize you would have to make the potion. You are well enough to teach this year, correct? I understand if you cannot, although I would still like to see you,” Severus looked up, but not at Albus, just up in general. 

    “No, I will be fine. It’s nothing to be worried about. I was just unsure if you wanted to speak with me or not.” Severus stood up, “is that all?” 

    “Yes. Go and rest. Enjoy the calm and quiet halls before the children and hopefully when Hadrian arrives you will be less anxious. Have a good night, Severus.” 

    “And to you as well headmaster,” Severus left, his robes sweeping the floor and billowing behind him. Albus wondered if that was a charm, or how he did that. He wanted his robes to do such a thing, it was quite regal and intimidating. Not that he wished to be intimidating but if he did like when he attended meetings at the Ministry for the Wizengamot it would be nice to make an elaborate entrance. He liked to make elaborate entrances, he had a love for the dramatic. 

    Bellatrix had both Draco and Harry and she had run into Mrs. Weasley who was coming in from the muggle entrance. 

    “You used the muggle born entrance. Any particular reason, Molly?” 

    “Yes, Ginny wanted to see if it felt like anything to run into a wall. The twins convinced her that it was painful before convincing her it was heavenly and so I couldn’t deny her an experience,” Molly smiled and put her hands on Ginny’s shoulders. Their trunks were levitated onto the train and Ginny held the cage with her kitten in it. She had named him Cupid and she had been keeping him close. She really loved her beautiful kitten and she swore that he would turn into a proud and elegant creature much like Bellatrix. She admired Bellatrix and her crazy cookie designs (she was fond of the ones Bella made that depicted severed heads constructed by thin frosting lines) and she also admired her mother who was different than she had been most of her life, but it was different in a good way. Harry and Draco met with them and Percy had his owl that he had been given a year prior for becoming a prefect while the twins had no animals. Ronald wasn’t anywhere. In fact, Harry wondered where the annoying brat had gone to. 

    “I see. Ginny dear, are you ready for your first year? Hadrian will be another big brother of yours and he has promised to help you if you need it,” Bellatrix smiled and patted Ginny’s red hair. She had it down in an elegant braid to the side and there were charmed flowers in her hair, charmed to stay fresh and beautiful for a year ( which is when the charm wore out). 

    They all met up with Neville and they waved bye to their parents before boarding the train. As they all situated themselves in the Slytherin part of the Hogwarts Express, Blaise and Pansy arrived to let them know that they wouldn’t be sitting with them. Pansy said that she was going to be with Millicent, Daphne and Tracey because Daphne had apparently kissed Blaise and they were all curious. Blaise just smiled and confirmed that he did indeed kiss Daphne. Blaise however was going to go sit with some Hufflepuff girls who thought he was cute. He mentioned snogging and that’s when everybody tuned him out and waved him away. Hermione’s loud voice could be heard as she tried to excuse herself and finally she sat down in their compartment. Theo followed behind her and they took their seats next to Harry and Draco and then a lost looking blonde girl came into the compartment, she knocked and leaned in. 

    “Is this seat taken? Nobody wants me to sit with them,” she had no shoes on and was wearing a pair of crazy glasses. Draco opened his mouth to turn her away but Harry stopped him, placing his hand on his chest. 

    “No, come in. What’s your name? I’m Hadrian Black-Gaunt, this is Draco Malfoy,” Harry smiled as Hermione and Theo introduced themselves and then the twins introduced themselves and Ginny. 

    “I’m Luna…” she smiled and realized she should say her last name. “Lovegood. This is my first year. My father warned me that I would be teased, but it’s alright, I don’t mind. If it makes them feel better then it’s okay. I just wish everyone was happy so they don’t have to tease people like me, it’s not fair to anyone.” 

    “I agree. You’re a first year? So is Ginny,” Harry smiled and Luna looked to Ginny who smiled widely but it was mostly due to nerves. Ginny thought that Luna was weird, but she was okay with that, it was just a little off putting. She was most nervous because what if all the other first years are mean? They wouldn’t even let Luna sit with them, and she had been nothing but sweet. 

    “I hope we’re sorted into the same house. I would love to get to know you more,” Ginny stated but Luna snickered before looking out the window in a daze. 

    “Oh, you’re a Gryffindor though. My family has been in Ravenclaw and Slytherin for generations. I don’t see an issue with us still being friends though. We’re distantly related to the Malfoys, my father was Abraxas’ brother’s illegitimate child, you see?” Draco frowned. 

    “Oh,” he sighed. “I wouldn’t tell people that. It’s not very honourable,” Harry slapped the back of his hand against Draco’s shoulder. Luna just giggled. 

    “It’s alright Harry. He’s right. I don’t usually tell people,” she took off her glasses and put them in her pocket. “Do you know about the wiltersnaps? They like trains, if you carry a marble with you in your pocket they won’t bother you though.” 

    The children all looked at her and finally Fred sighed. 

    “I really like her… Hey, can we keep you?” His voice crescendoed until he was shouting and George was laughing along with his twin. Luna laughed as well. She looked at them with a knowing smile and they calmed down until they caught what she was saying with her eyes. They turned away and then relaxed, leaning on each other. Fred threw his legs over George and Ginny and his feet rested on Luna. Harry just watched and Draco scoffed. 

    “Weasleys,” he muttered and crossed his arms. Hermione had been surprisingly silent but she was trying to recall if she ever heard of a wiltersnap. What were they? She had never heard of one, at least she didn’t think she had. She turned to Theo and he shook his head.  _ Oh.  _ She nodded and crossed her legs. She was wearing a Smashing Pumpkins shirt and a pair of jeans that she clipped together at the bottom hems with safety pins so she could put her boots on. She had done her hair like Bellatrix, just fluffing it up and letting it fall in whatever crazy way it wanted to. They chatted about unimportant things, mostly about what they expected their year to be like and what they planned on doing. The twins ruled the conversation laying out all the plans for pranks they planned to do and what sort of things they had to make. They went so far as to ask Harry and Draco to steal some lacewing fly wings so they could add it to their surprise potion. Both boys disagreed and listened to the twins complain for the rest of the trip. They all changed into their uniforms. Once they were off the train they waved to Luna and Ginny who walked to the boats together. Instead of just Hagrid, there was a new woman with him, but she left after the students were on the boats and Hagrid in one following them and she went to the carriages to make sure everyone was getting in and making their way to the school. Harry and Draco got on the same carriage as Darlene. 

    “Hello, I’m Hadrian. You must be one of the new professors. I’m the potion master’s son. It’s nice to meet you,” he smiled and offered a hand. She shook it and smiled at them. 

    “I’m Professor Braxen. I will be introducing and instructing physical activities and classes. It’s important for you to know how to be agile and strong as well as knowing magic. They go hand in hand in combat. Not saying you children should be in combat, but as adults it is possible to see some sort of fights. I heard there is a war going on. I’m not from here, I’m from Denmark, but in the few months I have been living here looking for employment I heard rumors.”

    “Yes, there is a war. But nobody is fighting physically. Not anymore anyway. I don’t know much about it. I’m twelve, and so is Draco,” he motioned to Draco who was glaring to his side at the creature pulling the carriage. It was invisible and it was annoying him. “I hope we will be able to take your class. I want to be the best wizard, and if that means I should learn how to move around then I would like to do it. Is it offered for second years or is it an elective that is only for third years and above?” 

    “It’s for everybody,” she smiled and looked on as they were coming close to the castle by this point. All the students were getting out of their carriages. “I’ll see you for lessons sometime this week. It was nice meeting you Hadrian, and you as well Draco,” Darlene walked into the hall and towards the teacher lounge. All the upper years guided the second and third years to the Great Hall in case they somehow forgot (which wasn’t likely but possible). They all took their seats and soon the first years filed in single file behind Professor McGonagall. The hat sang its song and then people were being called forward to be sorted. Luna was before Ginny and she was sorted into Ravenclaw. Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor, but that didn’t surprise anybody. Hadrian still didn’t see Ron, nor did he see Seamus Finnigan. He tried to look at the Gryffindor table. Where were they? Were they in trouble? Had they finally been called out for being mean to him and Draco? 

    The headmaster stood and introduced the new professors. Professor Braxen and Professor Yaxley. Then Harry looked to find Severus and beside Narcissa was Gilderoy Lockhart. Narcissa and Severus both looked annoyed. The headmaster introduced Professor Lockhart and then let them all eat the delicious feast that the elves had prepared. Harry looked up again at the Gryffindor table and Draco pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. 

    “Dobby and Kreacher have made it their goal to torment the Weasel this year, and Finnigan seems to have been caught up in the mess,” Draco pulled away and Harry turned to look at him. Severus was trying to listen to what was being said but he couldn’t pull apart all the different sounds. He could hear everyone speaking as if they were whispering in his ears. He had been practicing to take apart conversations and focus but it was harder than it seemed. It wasn’t impossible, he had mastered the mind arts and those were considered very difficult. He planned on mastering this as well. 

    “Why are they doing that?” Harry whispered back. 

    “Because I said that he was being rude to you and they both found that to be very unacceptable,” Draco pulled away and ate a bite of mashed potatoes before pouring himself a glass of milk, completely leaving the extra-sweet pumpkin juice alone. Harry nodded and then laughed before shoving a spoonful of the marshmallow and yam casserole-like thing into his mouth. Whatever it was, it was good and sweet. He then served himself some of the other sweeter foods including a few cookies that were offered since it was the Beginning of the Year Feast. There was a crash outside and all the students were sent to their common rooms a little earlier than they would have so that the Professors could check and see what had crashed into the school and protect the students if it was something dangerous. Harry and Draco went to their new room, it was once again the four boys: Draco, Harry,Vincent and Gregory. Harry didn’t like Crabbe or Goyle. They reminded him of his stupid cousin too much and that was still a little sore and probably always would be no matter how old he got. 

 

    Severus slammed his hands on his desk causing Ronald Weasley and Seamus Finnigan to flinch and jump back in their chairs. Minerva and Albus walked into the room after Severus gave them a little piece of what he wanted for them. To be expelled. They deserved it. They could have hurt that whomping willow and no matter how much Severus disliked it, that sentient tree was a part of the school and therefore important. Minerva checked on her students and bickered with Severus, although it was a healthy bickering. 

    “I think they should be expelled. The could have harmed the students, they could have gotten killed, it was completely irresponsible and dangerous. It was a very foolish thing to do and they should be punished for the damage they caused,” Severus was firm in his opinion and Albus waved his hands. 

    “Calm… calm down. Boys, this is a serious offense. You realize this don’t you?” Albus couldn’t let his most loyal family go by ruining their son’s chance at an education. Both boys nodded, Ron looked like he was about to cry and Seamus didn’t look that far off either. “I think detention will make them find the error in their ways, but I will leave the decision to you, Minerva.” 

     “Detention with Professor Snape and Filch for two weeks starting tomorrow after class. You’ve managed to get detention before your brothers Mr. Weasley, I suppose celebration is in order, you have broken a record,” she gathered her students and walked them to the kitchens for dinner and then she would escort them to their common room. They could find their dorms and go to bed. Neither boy spoke about the events that happened and neither wanted to either. Severus seethed over his desk. 

    “Aren’t you taking this a little too seriously?” Albus finally asked, breaking the crushing silence. 

    “ _ Too seriously _ ? If that were any of my snakes they would have been suspended or expelled!” Severus took a breath and sighed. “I suppose that giving them detention with me was a way to make them dislike me even more and complain more to their parents about their  _ evil _ potions professor?” Severus swept around his desk and towards his office. Albus followed. 

    “Nobody says that you’re evil. You are very strict, that is all. No problem with that.” 

    “Unless?” 

    “Unless the children stop learning due to fear of you. This is a reputable institution. All of us need to make an effort to be more just to all of our students. Perhaps you’re favouring certain students and taking your dislike and frustration out on others, I know you’re dealing with--”

    “No you don’t. I do not play favourites. Either you do well or you don’t. There are those who will exceed and I gladly teach them, offer them my knowledge. They are the ones who will be successful. The others… well, let’s say that the others won’t be as successful,” Severus opened his door to his office and walked through the door. “I have to speak with my House. Would you like to join me? Scare all the first years out of their mind?” Severus was being harsh and Albus wondered if it was because he was angry or because he was genuinely scared for the welfare of a child. Parenthood definitely changed people. Albus changed when he had to raise his sister, he changed when she died too so did his brother and so did his lover. 

     “No, that won’t be necessary. I hope you have a good night and I wish the same for your  _ snakes _ ,” Albus walked out of the office and back through the halls and up to his office which led to his bedroom and quarters. 

    Severus entered the common room and everyone gathered on the couches, chairs and floor. Severus stood in front of the blazing fire yet the heat didn’t bother him, in fact it felt good, it felt ever so slightly warm, the backlash of being so cold. He gave them the same speech. Do not speak with houses outside of the Slytherins, although he hadn’t found a reason to stop communication between certain students. When it became fraternization and caused rumors or broke their stance of unity it became an issue. It was more to remind them that this house was still targeted and sometimes they were treated wrongly or differently because they were Slytherins, no matter how unfair, but everyone in the house would accept you. They didn’t have to like each other, but they had to accept each other and act as if they liked each other in public. He told them about the curfew and reiterated the importance of remembering the password. He finished and wished everyone a good night and a great first day before he stalked out. Oscar clapped his hands once Severus had left the room. 

    “Well, that’s our head of house. He’s just a cheerful ball of sunshine, right? Now, go explore your rooms and if you have any questions you can come to one of us prefects. Go on, we know you want to talk to your friends,” Oscar waved his hand dismissively at the children and smiled as the first years stood up and ran to their rooms to explore. They had gotten to see more than the previous years because Snape had been occupied and had to wait for the introduction speech. Harry and Draco went to their room, wishing the prefects good night and getting a wink from Gemma who was now a sixth year prefect. Harry adored her, she was so smart, nice and she was going to be brilliant one day, he knew she would do great things. The room was a little different. The beds were slightly bigger and they were lined up. Two on one side of the room and two on the opposite side separated by a bedside table which was between each pair of beds. Harry claimed the bed closest to the door but Draco didn’t like that and so he moved his stuff to the one against the wall and took the bed closest to the door. 

    “I want to protect you if something gets in. I want to sleep closer to the door,” Harry complained, switching their trunks again and Draco switched them back to the way he wanted them. 

    “I want the same thing and what a Malfoy wants, a Malfoy gets,” he crossed his arms and Harry pouted before switching the trunks again. This went on for a solid six or seven minutes before Crabbe and Goyle walked in and just jumped on a bed, the ones that Draco and Harry weren’t fighting over. Their stuff rearranged itself so that they were in the proper place as to which bed was whose. Harry and Draco both jumped on the bed and bumped their heads together. They fell back and they both held their foreheads. 

    “Let’s just stone-parchment-wand for it,” Harry finally suggested. 

    “That sounds ridiculous. What does that even mean?” 

    “It’s a muggle game. You just do this,” Harry showed him with his hands and Draco turned his nose up. 

    “I refuse to do such a thing. I am claiming this bed,” Draco sat up on his knees and crawled over Harry. “I’ll do it with or without you in it, but either way it’s mine. I have more skill, I promise to keep you safe. Please let me keep you safe?” Draco had gone so far as to partially remove his glamour and wiggle against Harry. Harry finally got so uncomfortable he got up and Draco jumped on his bed before he fell down and got held down for jumping. He sighed and rolled off the bed. Their trunks switched and Draco smiled. “See? That wasn’t so difficult.” 

    “Sure-sure,” Harry glared and changed into his pyjamas and hopped into bed. Thankfully the bed didn’t restrain him for jumping on the bed. He assumed it’s when you jumped on your feet you got held down, but then he wondered how a bed could tell the difference. Magic was weird, it was… well it was  _ magic _ . Draco changed as well and went to brush his teeth. Harry followed after a moment and they walked back into their room. Crabbe and Goyle had changed and they were sleeping. Snoring like bears and sprawled out over their entire beds belly down. Harry and Draco got into bed and both did their own thing. Draco got out his Personal Harry and told him about Luna and about how they were now in second year. Other Harry was very excited and happy for Draco and told him that he loved him before Draco put him away and crawled under his blankets. He wiggled around like a spastic worm as he tried to get comfortable until Harry shot him with a stinging hex. 

    “What was that for?” 

    “You’re distracting me. I can see you in my peripheral vision and it’s annoying me. Stop squirming,” Harry looked back down at what he was doing. He was currently reading one of the ridiculous DADA textbooks. He couldn’t take anything written seriously so he was forcing his way through it. These couldn’t be the right books. There was nothing to be learned from these besides how to do stupid things. How did a Ravenclaw become so bold? It was utter crap and Harry finally tossed the book to the floor. It landed softly due to the charms on all of his books and then he slid under his blankets fully. He pulled the blankets over his head and then pulled them around his head and made a breathing hole in his blankets. He peeked out of the hole made in his blanket and at Draco. 

    “Goodnight worm-brain,” Harry whispered and Draco grunted. 

    “Sweet dreams, Harry,” Harry scoffed and went to sleep. As if his name was an insult. How rude. Harry went to sleep. Tomorrow was his first day as a second year and the first day back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm starting another fanfic, not because this one is stopping, but because I have so many ideas and I'm trying to separate the streams so the story doesn't become one weird conglomeration of -- I don't really know -- 'weirdness' maybe. I don't know. Either way, I'm going to be working on another fic, so the updates will be slower. I tried to stay on a schedule of every other day, but with a second fanfic, it will either be double that or perhaps I will move it to once a week because I can. I mean, I have been trying to write my novel and I just have HP on the brain so I need to just write it all out and hopefully I can start to gain my original ideas back so I can write something again. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. :)

         The first day went well, the first four days went well. Harry enjoyed his physical health class because they got to run around and throw hexes at each other without punishment being threatened over them. He and Draco took it very seriously and were very competitive with one another. Their first trial run, and whoever got hit with a hex was out of the competition, left Harry, Draco and surprisingly Neville who they both teamed up to eliminate before running away from each other and trying to hit. They had to stop because class was over but for the rest of the day they would send little annoying hexes at each other just because they could and they were still in fighting mode. 

    However, the wellness of days ended as the fifth day approached. It was the first Defense class and they all sat in their seats. From the top of the class, Lockhart walked from his steps and stopped to admire a painting of himself that was painting a painting of himself who was smiling and looking vane. They all shared a moment before he continued down the marble steps that he had decided to use the classroom rather than the practical room. This classroom was the most elegant and had the most wall space for his life sized portraits which covered all the walls. It wasn’t until he got to the ground floor that he smiled at the class. 

     “Good afternoon,” he greeted warmly with a hideous fake smile. His teeth were inhumanly white, as if he had charms on them. They seemed to sparkle, as if they were made of pearls. It was sickening. “I’m your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Me? Gilderoy Lockhart? Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League and five time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile, but let’s  _ not _ talk about  _ that _ . I mean, I didn’t get rid of the Banden Banshee by smiling at her,” he flashed another smirk and Harry wanted to gag to let everyone know his opinion of the man before them. Even Draco seemed to dislike the man before him and he usually liked any opportunity for publicity. “Now, let’s start this class off with a little quiz to see how well you understood the material for this course?” He started levitating and dishing out pieces of parchment to everyone and then he tapped the board and fifty-four --  _ fifty-four _ ! -- questions appeared. All the way from “1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s favourite colour?” to “54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart’s birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?” Harry scoffed and the professor looked at him.    
    “See something you would like to make a comment about, Mr…?” 

    “Black-Gaunt,” Harry stated and Lockhart’s lips pursed together. A Black and a Gaunt. Those were very powerful family lines. He was brought out of his musing by Harry’s words, “And I would also like to point out that none of these questions are important to know about as none are needed for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Why is your favourite colour important? If I was attacked by a werewolf I don’t think I would look for a lilac flag to send it off. It’s ridiculous. I will not lower myself to take such a quiz,” Harry pushed the quiz forward and crossed his arms. 

    “Detention! Mr. Black-Gaunt. With me, tonight… but good job, you answered number one correctly. I assume you have paid attention to the material enough to only need one detention for your disrespect. Anybody else have any questions or comments?” He looked around and there were a few hands but he didn’t notice. “Good, now finish this quickly,” he took Harry’s test and sat at his desk, observing all of the other students scribbling answers down on their parchments. He gathered all the tests and read through them. He sat at his desk and gave choked laughs and scoffs at their answers. Some of them, more than half, were mostly blank. There was a nice drawing of a stick-figure-esque dog on Mr. Goyle’s paper but it could have also been a pear or a rather rotund bird. 

    “One of these questions were answered for you and yet many of you still missed them. My favourite colour is lilac. And no, I was not born in… I don’t even know what this says and I’m going to trust it is appropriate, Mr. Malfoy,” Harry smiled at Draco and Draco smiled back, they both turned to look at the professor who was glaring at them. 

    “Well, I think that is enough for the day. You are dismissed. Remember Mr Black-Gaunt, detention after dinner.” 

    Harry and Draco just snorted and left the class, taking their things with them. That class was definitely not something he was looking forward to. 

    By detention, he was too tired to care. He sat down when Professor Lockhart allowed him to enter and take a seat. He was signing autographs and sending pre-copied letters that he was quickly scribbling a signature on.    
    “Mr. Black-Gaunt, those are some powerful families. Which lovely Black is your mother, or is Lord Black your father?” 

    “Lady Bellatrix is my mother, if you must know,” Lockhart stopped moving for a moment and hesitated before he resumed what he was doing. He levitated a stack of autographs to Harry. 

    “Just copy that signature onto all of those photos. You know the charm to do that?” 

   “Yes sir.” 

    “Good. Just an hour and I’ll let you go,” Lockhart went back to signing his letters. Ever so often he would lick his fingers and thumb through the photos to keep count of how many he had left and then he started to neaten his signed pile. Harry had cast the copy charm on lots of things. He had helped transfer many texts from the other Black libraries to new books so they could keep them at Grimmauld Place without risking having too much information in one place in case something happened and their home became compromised. The paranoia of being a death eater and/or the Dark Lord. 

   “Who is your father, Hadrian?” 

    “Severus Snape, sir,” Harry looked up to see Lockhart’s reaction. He looked very nervous indeed. Had he just put Snape’s son in detention? He couldn’t do anything about it, Snape, he meant. The cheeky little brat deserved it and he hoped his wand wrist hurt him later so he would remember to keep his mouth shut and let him do all the talking. 

    “I would imagine he’s a little  _ hard to deal with _ ,” Harry looked up and then back down at the photos. He had finished the pile given to him and he levitated them back to Lockhart’s desk. The professor gave him another stack, this time it was of a different photo. 

   “He is actually quite nice. He is very intelligent,” Harry started copying signatures once again. 

    “Oh, I see…” Lockhart faded into background noise along with the shuffling of photos and autographs. Lockhart dismissed Harry near curfew. An hour and a half past the originally planned detention. Harry walked backed to the common room angry and disgusted by Professor Lockhart’s attitude and his rudeness. Also, he was too bold, what sort of a Ravenclaw was this guy? He wasn’t intelligent at all and he probably had never read a book in his life if his  _ fiction _ was anything to go on. Or at least Harry was sure it was fiction. 

    Harry entered the common room and wasn’t surprised by Severus’ glare and then stalking off to his chambers. Harry would deal with him later. He stumbled forward and collapsed on Draco’s lap. Draco was occupying a chair away from his friends who sat in a circle on the floor. Malfoys didn’t sit on the floor, especially not on a nasty dungeon floor, and even more so not in front of the entire Slytherin house. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and Harry just groaned and hid his face in Draco’s robes. 

    “That terrible?” 

    “That terrible,” Harry confirmed before he just let Draco lavish him with some affection. After Harry was thoroughly relaxed and enjoying himself by being praised and preened like a fancy little cat, he spread out, also very cat like. He stretched his arms and legs over the arms of the chair before resting over the arms and over Draco’s thighs. Draco was tempted to tickle Harry, but he didn’t, but he really wanted to. He had to uphold some form of pureblood decency and the small things counted in his book (this was one of those small things). 

     “Nothing interesting--”

    “Nope,” Harry rolled onto his side and let himself cave in a little to rest more on top of Draco rather than on the chair. He pulled his legs back over the side of the chair and onto Draco. Harry brilliant friend was still petting his hair and combing it with his fingers, even if it was rather absent minded, he was still doing something that made Harry extremely happy. 

    “Would you like to go to be?” 

    “Yes please,” Harry got up off of the chair and went to kiss Pansy’s cheek. He was also happy because he didn’t have to hold back any affections when it came to his friends because he was in a contract, and he was off the market as muggles would say. He’s not a fish in that sea… of whatever/however that goes. He was twelve, he had heard it a few times but he could admit he was a little more than a little sheltered. He was trailed by Draco who got out of his clothes in record time and into his softer pyjamas before hopping into bed. They both stared at each other once under their blankets and finally Draco got out of his bed and switched the compartment on his trunk. He opened the lid and Harry jumped out of bed, hopping over to the trunk and climbing down the ladder and into Draco’s much nicer and bigger bed. Harry and Draco shut the trunk and made sure nobody would lock it before crawling into bed. Harry pulled Draco to his chest and waited until Draco released his glamour. Harry let his fall and Draco turned around in Harry’s arms to press his forehead against Harry’s chest and go to sleep. This is how they planned to sleep for as long as they could get away with it. Curled up and warm until the enchanted plants and under fairy-lights and no-flame candles. It was good, everything was better when it was just them (and though neither of them were opposed to living with their families because they loved them dearly as well) it also seemed more freeing to just be away from everybody else. 

    Four weeks into school and the most exciting things that had happened all year was Ron getting a stern letter from his mum that the twins took from him before casting a  _ sonorous _ and reading it out loud to the entire Great Hall, teachers be damned (and it was quite amusing how Lockhart chased them around trying to get to them in some attempt at heroics. That idiot) as they hopped around and ran around the hall. Everyone found it hilarious, besides Seamus and Ronald of course who were on the receiving ends although Molly didn’t directly call Finnigan out, she did tell him that she would be speaking to his father only for his father to send him a nasty howler which was almost as amusing to watch.

    Everything was normal though, for the most part. Until Harry and Draco were coming back from the library. What had they been doing in the library? They had all the books they needed from home, they had ever book they wanted, every book ever written if they desired for it, but they did not like not being able to access places. So they found a way into the Restricted section and then checked out some boring books, which they would likely still read, about wandlore or something dull like that. Something only a skilled craftsman or someone with a great curiosity for that specific subject could appreciate and enjoy thoroughly. Harry was in his own personal library that he carried in his trunk, on all the newly added furniture and throw pillows on the floor. He had books stacked up to his ears around him and had just as many pages of little scribbles of notes. Scribbles that he was dissapointed in to be honest, he liked to think he had rather nice penmanship, but mostly because they were nothing of substance. Just information that he thought could possibly, one day, maybe, in a very broad way, sort of help with something or rather. He was joined by Draco who was making use of Harry’s coffee table that hung long to the cushions and pillows that he sat on. He was writing a letter about his father for someone who had been helpful so far and seemed to be trusted. She hadn’t led him astray yet, so she couldn’t be all that bad, plus his father, mother and aunt had all decided that she wasn’t an annoyance, so that gave her credibility. 

_ Dear Mrs Weasley,  _

_     It is Draco Lucius Malfoy. I know that we do not know each other very well, but you have the trust of my mother and aunt as well as our Lord and my father, so you have my trust as well. What did you want to do as an adult? When you graduated Hogwarts? Did you have any dreams? You came from the Prewett line, so you must have had some sort of job planned for you.  _

_     I ask because I am caught between a rock and a hard place (I learned this from Harry, and I’m not sure if I’m using it right, but you know more about muggles than I do and this is the best that I can describe it). If you know the Malfoys we have been in politics for many years, since we came to Britain from France, when the Ministry was first forming, we have been there. My father wishes for me to take his place, but I have never had the desire to follow in my father’s footsteps (also something I learned from Harry, I’m positive that I used this correctly however as it is very descriptive and makes sense). I would like to be like my Godfather. I love my Uncle Severus and I want to follow in  _ his _ footsteps. I want to make potions, I want to create things, I want to help Hadrian become the greatest mediwizard in the world. I want to be there by his side as Severus is for our Lord.  _

_     Although I’m not your child, and I understand if you would rather throw this letter away (but if you do get rid of it I suggest you burn it and get rid of the ashes so nobody can find this sensitive information) but I feel like you are the one person that will understand me best when it comes to this situation.  _

_     I’m looking forward to your reply.  _

_     Draco Lucius Malfoy  _

_ Heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy _

Draco folded it neatly and slid the parchment into a plain envelope before setting it off to the side. Finally someone knocked upon their trunk lid and Harry rose to answer it. Severus stared down at them. 

    “I need to speak with you. It’s your mother, she has called us and would like to speak with you,” Hadrian let Draco out of his trunk first before Draco sent Harry off to talk with his mum while he stamped and got his letter to the owlery. Severus led Harry to his chambers and in the green flames was Bellatrix’s likeness no doubt. Harry sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace and Severus sat in his chair. Harry deemed that chair ‘Sev’s chair’ because Severus never sat on the couch or any other place but that chair, or at least that is how it seemed. He wondered if it was super soft or something. Whatever it was it beat sitting on the stone floor. 

    “Hadrian!” Bella screamed, “Oh how has your time back been?” 

    “It’s been fine. I’ve spent a lot of time reading and more time with Draco. We usually read together or at least we are occupying the same space, well, not too close, but I mean, you understand,” Harry waved his hand and Bella nodded. 

    “I do understand, I do!” Harry just loved how excitable she was and how enthusiastic she was about everything. It was a little odd, but his family was very odd in general, so that wasn’t too big of a deal. “Your father wanted me to tell you that before you come home for the holidays, you are to get Tonia into the Chamber. He says that you can just ask the castle, he said if you speak to the snakes in the portraits they will also tell you where to go.” 

    “Alright,” if that was all she had to say, then Harry would be a little disappointed. But he knew better, because that was never just the end of his mother. She didn’t know how to shut up, it was amazing and interesting. 

    “I also wanted you to know that Molly - I mean Mrs. Weasley - has gotten a few letters from Ginny and she is concerned. Could you and Draco go and check on her, make sure she’s adjusting alright? And before I forget, catch this!” Something popped out of the fire and landed in Harry’s hands. It was a velvet bag and there were phails inside. There had to be at least ten potions in the bag but Severus quickly snatched it out of his hands. “Hey, Sevie, you give that back. I made those myself. They’re not potions, they’re like candy stuff,” she frowned and bit her lip, trying to find the right words to explain. “You add them to your like milk or to other sweets and it makes them taste, I don’t really know, I was just speaking to my aunt Walburga and she mentioned making them for Regulus and Sirius when they were kids. Apparently Sirius didn’t appreciate them but Reggie loved them. I thought that maybe you could share them with your friends and have fun. You know, do kid stuff and put down all those boring books. You’ll end up like Severus if you’re not careful,” she backtracked very quickly. “Not that being like Severus is a bad thing, because it’s not. Okay, I think I need to go, nothing is coming out right and I need a headache potion. I love you, and I will have Tonia sent over with your father a few weeks before the holidays.” 

    “I love you too. Thank you for the… er…  _ stuff _ !” She blew him a kiss and then the fireplace went dark. Severus handed him the vials back but he didn’t trust them very much. Maybe that was what messed Sirius up in his dumb little dog brain or something, you never know. The Blacks were very strange people, lots of weird thing in that line’s history that was for sure. 

    “Do you have something to test one of these on?” Severus nodded and conjured a rabbit, or as most people would call the animal it was a bunny, and he took the vials out. They were bigger than potion vials but he also realized they didn’t have any colour, they were clear and thick, like syrup. Like corn syrup. Harry knew lots of corn syrup, he made pecan pies with corn syrup and candies too. Even got some poured on his hand once for burning the candy he was asked to make for a dinner party. Severus tested them all letting the rabbit taste them and in reality the rabbit just started to breathe faster and it’s little heart beat faster. 

    “I think it’s safe. He’s just consumed a great amount of sugar, his body is probably stressing and producing insulin levels to stabilize himself. Or herself, I don’t really know. Well, I’ll keep this rabbit overnight and if he dies then we will just tell Bella that you had them and they were great and if they’re safe then I will give you free reign over consuming them at your own risk. None of her other sweets have killed anybody… well, at least not for a very long time,” Severus gave a wary smile and Harry just stood up. He didn’t think his mother would purposely hurt him, she was too nice for that and she loved him too much, and it was just sugar? Sugar never killed anybody, or at least not anybody he knew of… he really hoped sugar didn’t kill anybody because sugar was such a good thing, so pure and magnificent and god-like in it’s ethereal glory. No, he loved sweets and sugar too much to let the knowledge of it hurting somebody taint his memory of it or views of it in the future. He loved candy and anything that probably wasn’t healthy for him and that parents were advised to restrict their children from eating. Harry jumped onto Severus and picked up the bunny, holding him in his arms. He played with the long floppy ears that drooped like a basset hound’s ears did. Severus shifted himself in his seat to accommodate Harry’s weight, which was still not enough, and wrapped an arm around him. 

    “We should keep this bunny.” 

    “Absolutely not.” 

    “Can I name him?” 

    “No.” 

    “Could Draco and I at least take him back to the forest once you’re done with him?” This time Severus took a moment to answer. 

    “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything, just don’t let Hagrid know that I was testing possible poisons on his humble forest creatures. He would attempt to kill me with a fork or something primitive like that. Otherwise, I don’t care. But no matter what he is not staying and you are not naming him… you could feed him to Tonia if you really felt like it--” 

    “Severus! How could you say something about such a cute little ball of fluff? Look at this face?” Harry pressed the startled and panicking rabbit against Severus’ nose and Severus gently pushed the rabbit to the side. 

    “Yes, and I can easily let it go. I could keep him to test my potions on if you honestly want to keep him but I don’t think he would last very long.” 

    “Fine. We’ll take him in the morning so be up early, before the giant gets out of bed, or both, I don’t think they’re friends yet though,” Harry pulled the rabbit to his chest and the poor little thing was about to have a heart attack. Harry put him down on the floor and he just sat there, unmoving. The rabbit’s stillness was a little disappointing to be honest. Severus let go of  Harry and waited until he stood up so he could stand up. He reached down and grabbed the rabbit. Transfiguring a mug on his coffee table into a cage. He tossed the rabbit into the cage, he didn’t really want to deal with it, yet he also didn’t want it to die. Harry left the room and walked into the common room while Severus took the rabbit to his personal lab. He fell back against his chair heard as his portrait shut and then Harry’s loud laughter through the walls when he greeted his friends. At least he was well, that’s what mattered. He went to the cooling cabinet and pulled out the large phials that contained blood, all animal, as he had been trying to live on since the incident with Marvolo. It wasn’t working for him, he wasn’t satisfied, he was hungry and irritable. 

    Severus emptied a few phials of blood into his mouth and his fangs extended just enough. He put the phials back and walked to his room after warding the cabinet so nobody could get in, or if someone tried, he would be notified. He was in his bedroom, turning down the sheets so he could try to sleep when he heard the rabbit jumping in the cage. It was very loud and very annoying, but only to his sensitive ears. He got up and put a silencing charm over his door and then sat back down. Hopefully that would work. 


	4. Chapter 4

    It was Halloween and a Saturday. Everyone felt lucky that such a fun holiday was on a weekend so they could stay up and not worry about classes the next day. Harry was walking with Draco down the first floor and they both heard crying -- gross sobbing -- coming from the girl’s bathroom. Harry knocked on the door and the sobbing got even louder. 

    “She’s probably fine, let’s go,” Draco urged. He didn’t want to go into a girl’s bathroom, that was weird and wrong, but the crying got louder and there was a slam of one of the doors and before Draco could grab Harry, his friend had slipped into the bathroom. Draco followed with a huff. 

    “Hello? Are you alright, miss?” Harry asked, not looking at the stalls but the sinks. It looked abandoned. There didn’t look like water had poured from the sinks for a long time. Was this that ghost’s bathroom? Before Harry could dwell on it anymore Myrtle flew up and rushed through him. Harry stumbled and Draco caught him before he fell. 

    “This is a  _ girls _ bathroom!” She whined before whimpering and hovering above them. She crossed her arms. Was she a Ravenclaw, or well, had she been a Ravenclaw? That’s what her robes looked like. Luna was a Ravenclaw. 

    “We just wanted to make sure you were okay. Did something happen to make you sad?” Harry was too nice for his own good. It was going to get him killed one day or at least hurt. 

    “Okay?  _ Okay? _ I’m not  _ okay _ , I’m dead!” Harry flinched and he went to the sink, he had seen something. There was a snake behind the tap. It was engraved into the metal. He ran his fingers over the engraving and Myrtle whined again as Draco stared at her. She dove right into a toilet, splashing water everywhere and the toilet seat slammed crudely. Draco went to grab Harry’s hand and take him out of there. This was getting awkward, they should have never come into the bathroom. What if there were girls in the bathroom? He knew that there weren’t but what if? 

    “What if someone walks in?” Draco complained as Harry swatted his hands away as he looked at the carving. He saw a tail, a little snake. The snake was slithering up into the bowl of the sink and he looked up at Harry and hissed, opening his mouth as if he was about to strike. 

    “It’s abandoned, nobody is going to come in here as long as we don’t make too much noise,” he looked down at the snake and started to speak in Parseltongue. “ _ Hello little one, my father told me about the snake behind the tap. Do you know if this leads to the Chamber of Secrets? _ ” The snake’s mouth shut and he slithered up over the lip of the sink and closer to Harry until he wrapped around his arm. Draco of course didn’t like snakes, especially snakes that weren’t pets. Wild snakes could be dangerous and what if this one didn’t want to be friendly? What had Harry even said to the snake? 

    “ _ Yes, it does. You just have to command the chamber to open. Would you take me with you when you go to the chamber? I would like to see the mighty king that resides within the chamber. _ ” 

    “ _ Alright, _ ” Harry held the snake to his chest and with his other hand he grabbed onto Draco. “ _ I want you to open _ ,” and with a loud groan the sinks started to shift until there was a large slide leading down into the chamber. It must have been a hundred feet down! Harry looked at Draco. “Will you come with me?” 

    “Of course. I’m not going to let you go in there alone. What kind of a friend and possible suitor would I be if I let you go down there and face a you-know-what alone?” Draco shivered, he didn’t like the thought of going into a basilisk’s territory. He didn’t even like Tonia and she was a bundle of love and cuddles, what if this one wasn’t? Harry nodded and slid down the tunnel and Draco followed behind him. The sink shifted and closed itself. Bones poked uncomfortably through the soles of Harry’s shoes and he kicked bones out of his way before going back and collecting Draco and leading him through the path he had made. Draco was still hesitant of getting to close to that wild snake but Harry didn’t seem to be scared so that gave Draco a little bit of comfort. They walked down a bone filled hallway and to a round door locked by snakes. Harry told it to open once again and the snakes started to slither around. Metal snakes were slithering around! That had to be some powerful magic. 

    Harry and Draco entered the chamber. It was flooded and there was an eeriness to it, probably due to being abandoned for so long. There were two doors to the side of the entrance, and they had a platform that led to them. There were two doors beside the giant likeness of Salazar Slytherin and then his mouth dropped open with a rumble and soon enough a loud hiss vibrated off the walls. Harry let the little snake down and he slithered towards the source of the hiss and a basilisk, truly a king, in fact he was a mighty king slithered forward. His eyes were closed and his tongue flicked out to taste his surroundings. His head dropped and his tongue ran against Harry’s stomach and then Harry moved his hands out for the snake to taste his hands. 

    “ _ Hello Antonio, _ ” Harry hissed and Draco was cowering behind Harry. No matter his power due to being a light elf, they were only twelve and there was a giant basilisk in front of them. He wasn’t tiny like Tonia and they didn’t have Marvolo to protect them and talk down the mighty serpent before them. “ _ I’m Marvolo’s son. _ ” 

    “ _ Oh? That is good. I’ve been so lonely. Even the few snakes that find their way to me no longer offer me comfort, _ ” He raised himself, posturing high above them. 

    “ _ This is my… I don’t know, he is Draco and I love him. He is frightened of you I think. Do you promise not to hurt him? _ ” 

    “ _ So you are not frightened of me? Why is your mate scared of me? You are my new master, I have no reason to harm you or your mate. I would especially stay away from you or I would protect you. _ ” 

    “Draco, he won’t hurt you. You are going to tear my robe if you don’t relax and release my clothes. I’m here, you’ll be alright. I won’t let him hurt you, I promise,” Harry turned around and Draco released his death grip on the back of his robes. Harry stroked Draco’s cheek before kissing his forehead. “Do you want to leave?” 

    “No, I’m not going to leave you alone down here,” Draco looked up at the basilisk and shivered, not the shivers he got when Harry kissed him or when Harry wouldn’t stop wiggling on him, but it made him feel gross this shiver. He cringed and looked away. Harry turned back around and reached back to grab Draco’s arm and wrap it around him. 

    “ _ I don’t have a reason to be frightened by you, do I? And Draco, well, he’s scared of a lot of things, but I think he was scared that you would eat one of us or something. The entrance to the chamber is quite intimidating with all those skeletons… would you hurt people for me? _ ” 

    “ _ It would be my pleasure to take care of people for you. Do you have anyone in particular. I can hear everything through, all the vibrations and magical signatures that travel down here to me. _ ” 

    “ _ What is through all of these doors? _ ” Antonio slithered around the boys, circling them with his body. For a second he could have looked like the symbol for ouroborus. Harry was tempted to ask for him to swallow his tail but then he decided against it, probably for the best. 

    “ _ The rooms are filled with Slytherin’s treasure, his knowledge and his power. There is a portrait of him which still speaks, he is often as lonely as I. Would you like me to direct you to that room little one. It is in his library which leads into the back of the chamber which has been turned into a house-like structure. It is where he stayed with his family for years. There are many ways into the chamber, they are all opened by our language, _ ” Antonio started to slither towards the back of the chamber, towards the carved portrait. His tail slams against a door and Harry pulls Draco along to go into the room. 

    “ _ Thank you. We will say goodbye before we leave. Do you need any help being released from the chamber? I’m sure you will want to feel the sunlight on your scales again at some point. _ ” 

    “ _ I would love that. Speak to me after you are done exploring and before you leave, little one _ ,” Antonio slithered back towards the opened mouth and back inside to his own chamber. It was quite clean but there were many old skins that he had shed. One for every two to four years he had been in the chamber. So he was glad that they had mostly been crushed by his massive weight and pressed into the dirt floor. If he could clean he would but he didn’t have hands or anyone to take care of him anymore. 

    Harry and Draco shut the door behind them and Draco started to pant. He held himself up against the damp cobblestone wall. Green lights flickered on and indeed there was a luxurious library and against the back wall was a portrait of Salazar Slytherin. Harry grabbed the single chair and moved it in front of the portrait. Slytherin blinked rapidly, unused to the lights in the room. He looked at the guests he had. 

    “You are my heir?” 

    “The heir of your last heir actually,” Harry said, crossing his legs in a fashion that resembled Marvolo or Severus when they had serious conversations. He was sure even Lucius had crossed his legs like this in the past to flaunt how elegant he was, it always seemed so royal, this action. “I spoke to Antonio. He is a brilliant creature. I am going to speak to him about letting him out, just for a little bit.”

    “Oh, I see,” the portrait said and Harry was joined by Draco who stood behind him, behind the chair, and reached over to place one hand on Harry’s shoulder. “You can’t both be heirs.”

    “No, this is Draco Malfoy, he is my best friend. He comes everywhere with me, I don’t trust anyone in this school to not hurt him and he wants to ensure that I’m safe. There are people who hate us here. People who want to see us dead for things that we didn’t do, that we had no control over. People who have already hurt us…” Harry reached up to ran his fingers over Draco’s hand. Slytherin turned and stared down at them. He wasn’t handsome, but he wasn’t ugly. He looked nothing like Marvolo and Harry wondered if selective breeding gave Tom his attractive qualities while ridding of the fuller cheeks, the sunken eyes that drooped so slightly. Then the portrait could be an older likeness and Salazar could have been more attractive in his youth but his balding head was still covered with thick black curls much like Tom’s hair was. Slytherin stroke his long beard that faded into a point and curled at the end like a pig’s tail but not as hideous, but rather intimidatingly. His beard wasn’t gray but it was streaked with silver hairs. 

    “If you thought he was important enough and trustworthy enough to bring into the chamber than he is not a problem,” Salazar waved out and a book came floating towards them. It landed in Harry’s lap. Both boys looked down at the cover of the book.  _ Mind Magick and the Power of Secrets _ sat in Harry’s lap and he opened the cover for the book to scream at him. He didn’t stop from turning the page and the screaming stopped, tamed. He flipped through the pages. “It is important you learn how to protect your minds.” 

    “We have natural protections. My father made sure of that. He tried  _ legilimens _ on us and found our natural occlumency barrier. You see, we found some interesting books in the Black library. One of these described how we got our magic and we have performed the ritual with the approval of Mother Magic herself and now we aren’t common humans, nor are we simple wizards,” Harry made the book float back to its position on the shelf before standing up and pushing the chair back into the place it was before he arrived. He pulled out his wand and started to use simple cleaning charms to rid of the dust. There wasn’t a cobweb in sight. Slytherin watched the boy clean the room and then his heir’s friend drew his wand and helped clean the room while taking breaks to look at the books on the shelves. They would call each other over to certain books and they left them levitating in the air beside them. Finally, dying of curiosity for what the boys had chosen to read Salazar made them remember his presence, as they seemed to disregard him (even when they dusted his frame). 

    “What books have you grabbed?” 

    “Well I have extracted your potions journals. I have translated your journals and the Gaunt’s journals, or at least the ones I had found. My father, your heir’s lover, so my second father really, is a potions master. The youngest potions master ever. He is quite talented and your old knowledge would be beneficial to once again be known. What will you do with all of this  _ power _ ? You’re dead, and I want to be the strongest wizard in the world. I need to know everything,” Harry looked at Draco who had two of his own books beside him. “What have you chosen?” 

    “They are books on the Dark Arts. Books that I am unfamiliar with. I will shrink them and send them to my father to copy and then he will send them back and I will replace them so that no harm will come to them. I don’t trust anyone with the care for the books, not even my father, so I will leave notes to remind him how important they are. Perhaps I’ll send them through Uncle Sev. He knows how to care for such things,” Harry nodded and Slytherin was shocked at how articulate the boys were. They couldn’t be older than thirteen, and his heir looked to be younger, as if he didn’t grow properly. 

    “What is your name, at least?” 

    “Hadrian, but you may call me Harry, all my friends do,” he thumbed through a book and put it back before setting the books and journals onto the seat where Draco set his books as well. “We’re going to visit the living chambers, we’ll be back if you have any questions and also to grab the books.” 

    “Please, can’t you copy them in here? I don’t trust them to be taken out? I have never allowed any of my heirs to remove the books,” but he felt compelled to give into these boys’ desires to remove the book. He trusted them with the information and with the care, but he didn’t want them to know that. It would give them the upperhand in their interactions. 

    “We will leave the books but expect us back with enough parchment to copy the books and I suppose I will be in here often to transcribe the journals, the one in Parseltongue to English and then I will also copy down the others. Do you have any books on defensive spells?” Harry asked, since he hadn’t found any. 

    “They were given to my children, they are in the back chambers in their rooms, there are other books back there. If you would like to bring them into the library that would be acceptable but you may leave them where they are as well,” Slytherin looked up at them for a second. “Could you please bring the portrait of my wife into this room? I miss her dearly, and I can’t move to see her.” 

    “We will,” Draco said and Slytherin looked at him with almost angry eyes. This boy was here as a friend, not as an heir. Did he get to make decisions? “But you owe us something in return,” Slytherin looked to his heir who only nodded.    
    “Very well.” 

    Both boys went to the living chambers and were shocked with how well kept it was until they saw the little house elf who was busy working herself to death. She was tiny, as if she was a baby. She saw Harry and Draco and she squeaked, dropping what she had in her hands and hiding behind a wingback chair in dark wood and emerald green velvet with stunning silver upholstery nails. 

    “Hello,” Harry said, getting closer to the house elf. She backed up. Unlike other house elves who seemed a little small for their potato sacks, it dragged to the floor and hid her feet, her little toes poked out from under the rough cloth. “Are you a Slytherin elf?” She nodded. “I’m the Slytherin heir. Have you been keeping these quarters clean?” 

    “I’s mother went dead a weeks in the past,” she said. “I’s be doing mother’s work since then.” 

    “Do you have a name?” She shook her head and got closer to him. She picked up the ancient items that she was using to clean things. She mostly had to dust and to tend to the gardens in the back. Her magic helped keep the sun shining despite being deep under ground. “We will name you Bipsy, is that alright with you?” 

    “I is now Bipsy, yes?” 

    “Yes, you are. Do you know the Hogwarts elves?” 

    “Bipsy not okay to speak with Hogwarts elves. Hogwarts elves wonder where is Bipsy from and Bipsy can never tell other elves about here.” 

    “Okay. Well, can you show us around?” She nodded and her tools went away in a silent pop and then she lead them through the common/living area and towards the old kitchen that really wasn’t much different than wizarding kitchens now but it still seemed old. She took them to the two rooms for the children and then the larger master room. 

    “Bipsy be making more rooms if Master Slytherin be wanting.” 

    “No, no, this is good. Do you know of the basilisk that lives here?” 

    “Bipsy not allowed to be around the big snake. Does master be wanting me to be around the big snake?” 

     “Yes, can you clean his living area as well, I’m sure he would appreciate that. After we leave you may go to clean that area, alright? Is there anything else here?” Harry noticed that the newly named elf shuffled her feet and didn’t dare look up at him. The Malfoy elves and even Kreacher weren’t that timid. 

    “There’s be vegetables and fruits that Bipsy be growing, Bipsy has used magic to keep fruits and vegetables fresh and yummy.” 

    “Good, you keep doing that,” Harry and Draco left the family chambers and Harry called for Antonio and told him that there was a house elf who was going to clean his, well, whatever he called the place he stayed. His cage? He was a king, you didn’t cage kings. They boys left the chamber, which was difficult but thankfully after a good thirty minutes of trying to cast the same spell that Severus had used to get them out of the passage through the devil’s snare, they were shot up into the air and they collapsed out of the chamber and then it sealed itself. Mytle was moaning and crying again and both boys quickly left the bathroom. It was almost dinner already, they had missed everything. Another Halloween and another crazy discovery. Harry used a ‘point me’ spell and found all of their friends sitting out by the lake, on the dock that was quite a ways away from the school. Luna had her feet in the water and Fred and George were trying to convince Hermione to eat the candy that they had made, saying it was filled with beautifying potions. She had taken offense to it at first but then realized that most other potions were bad and they were probably just trying to get her like others by using her poor self esteem to eat a prank candy. They were determined though and kept pestering her as Pansy was doing her hair. She had told Hermione about the style that Bellatrix, Hermione and Ginny’s new role model, had done her hair at the Yule Ball. This had the girls, all of them except Luna, discussing the Yule Ball. Hermione and Ginny both wished to go and Draco heard their longing and would have to tell his mother about them. Knowing that Draco did something nice for Harry’s friends would make Harry happy and that made Draco happy. 

    Crabbe and Goyle were also out and they both had large papers and charcoal that they were drawing with. Harry and Draco didn’t expect them to be anything but dumb oafs, so this was shocking and they complemented their art, which was surprisingly good for being so young, and both boys thanked them in their gruff voices before continuing and pointing out different things to each other. Blaise was pressed up against a tree off in the tree line with Megan Jones who was giggling at whatever Blaise had said. Blaise looked at Harry and winked only for Harry to groan and feel bad for Megan because Blaise was using his attractiveness for evil, and he was going to hurt a lot of people. 

    “So, how is the King?” Luna asked absently, kicking the water and smiling as little fishes nibbled on her toes. She looked over her shoulder at Harry and Draco who sat on the dock by her between her and Millicent who was trying to help explain the allure of the Malfoy’s Balls and why they are so important to attend and what being invited meant while Pansy talked about everybody’s clothes and hair, even calling the girl who danced with Theodore the previous year a slag. Theo had to argue with that and then tell Hermione that he would never be with just any girl, and that he cared for people based on how they cared and how they acted rather than looks. Pansy just ignored him and continued talking until she brought up Bellatrix and Narcissa once again, even mentioning her mother as being a vindictive werewolf. 

    “He was well… how did you know?” Harry asked as Draco sat behind him and let Harry relax, finally, against him. Harry had played it so proper and classy in the chamber that he felt drained, he couldn’t do that again. How did his father do it? How did Lord Malfoy do such things and Narcissa and his mother? It was insane. He couldn’t take three hours of it how could he live his life like that. 

    “Well I was told about it,” she lifted her feet from the water and crossed her legs, turning to face them. “Don’t think that you’re the only special people around here, there are a few of us, we are just very careful about who we tell. I was born like this though. All of my family was, even my father. That’s why he was disowned, because he was odd,” Luna leaned forward and put her head on Draco’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around Harry so she could equally care for them. “I’m the first of my kind for a long time though. My mother and father were different, and therefore I was created, plus being what I was before I was gifted, I changed. My father is the same as Lord Malfoy and you,” she snuggled her head against Draco’s shoulder and Draco, who thought he would be repulsed, wanted to bring her closer and call her his little sister. She was technically his cousin, but she reminded him of a sibling. “But my mother was a shapechanger,” her voice got quieter and nobody else could hear, especially not over Pansy’s loud mouth, but she never lost that dreamy tone. “There are several different kinds of shapechangers. Like werewolves but it’s a magical core not a disease like lycanthropy or even common vampirism. She could change into animals, only three. We can usually only turn into three animals, but I was born a seer as well, and that changed me. I can only turn into one animal, but that animal is magical, as magical if not more than I am in this form.” 

     “What can you turn into?” Harry whispered, taken by her announcement. He held onto one of Draco’s hands and he had his other hand on Luna’s hand that rested on his shoulder. 

   “A unicorn,” she giggled. “Do you know of unicorns?” 

    “Yeah, we saw one last year… she was dead though,” Harry frowned and Luna sighed and pulled away from them before she lay on her back and look up at the sky. They stayed silent for a long time. Then the sun started to set and they all got up and made their way to the castle. Luna skipped from her table and towards the Slytherin table before sitting between Harry and Draco. Severus and Filius watched this in shock. Severus was shocked that the other Slytherins acted so welcoming to her and Filius was disappointed as he saw the girls who bullied Luna out of the table, he was glad that she had friends outside of her house though. Hermione also eventually got up and joined Luna, this time sitting by Theo. 

    The Halloween feast began and everyone ate their food. There was laughter and then there was chaos as a prefect ran into the room, dusting off her cloak frantically. She practically ran to the head table and asked to speak with the headmaster. Dumbledore took her aside and they spoke. She had seen spiders and then they all started to crawl on her. She saw the acromantulas outside and she had come running inside. Dumbledore noticed that Hagrid entered quite timidly and sat down. The girl was dismissed and she sat at her house table, Hufflepuff, and started to talk with her friends about what she had seen while eating. By the end of the night, every student had heard what had happened and the smarter students noticed that Hagrid was acting strange, well, stranger than he usually acted. 

    “You should let the King out tonight,” Luna told Harry quietly before eating another bite of salad with sweet raspberry dressing and poppy seeds. She looked up to Harry when he stopped eating and stared down at her as she hunched over a little. 

    “Why?” 

    “Because he needs to rectify some people’s behaviour,” she nodded her head forward to Ronald Weasley who was shouting at his sister. McGonagall watched, horrified that he would act such a way to his sibling. Ginny got up and left in tears. Luna shoved another bite into her mouth and drank down some water before she kissed all of her friend’s cheeks and ran after her. She caught up with her on the stairs up to the Gryffindor tower. 

    “Ginny! Wait!” She called as loud as she could. Ginny stopped and turned to her, hiding her face in her hands. The stairs directed Luna to Ginny and then they sat on one of the floors that had just enough room to stand before there was a classroom. Luna pushed the door open and pulled Ginny inside. She sat down and pulled Ginny to her. 

    “I’m sorry if I worried you, I’m fine now,” Ginny said as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve. Luna pulled her friend to her chest and held her.    
    “It’s okay if you’re not fine. We don’t have to be alright all the time,” she pressed kisses on Ginny’s face and hands before the other girl was laughing and smiling again. “Do you want to come with me? We can spend the night in the Room of Requirement. I found it the other day when I was lost, and I entered it thinking I missed a classroom door and that my class was there. I didn’t even know what floor I was on until I counted the floors on the way down. We can ask the room for a nice bed and I can even ask a house elf for our pyjamas, and we don’t have to worry about classes tomorrow.” Both girls left the classroom and headed up the stairs before passing the hall three times thinking of the most luxurious bedroom they could have and then they walked into the room. Indeed when asked, a house elf brought them their pyjamas and they had fun talking about things and just being young girls who got to spend time with another girl when they usually didn’t get to spend time with others their age, even less likely for them to be a girl. 

    Harry went to the chamber without Draco, after everyone was asleep. He had crept out under his invisibility cloak and when the rumbling of the chamber opening sounded, he hoped that nobody would be awoken by the shrieking pipes and shaking earth. He slid down and walked across the field of bones before reaching the door. He opened it with parseltongue and walked into the chamber. Antonio slid from the mouth of the bust and towards Harry. 

    “ _ Do you need something, little Lord? _ ” Harry reached up and Antonio lowered his head so he could be shown affection by his master. Harry stroked his large head, between his eyes which were closed.    
    “ _ I would like to let you out. How do I go about letting you free? _ ” 

    “ _ Open the gates in the pipes _ ,” Antonio lead Harry to the pipes that he had used to travel before and there were grates and gates that blocked him from slithering down and through them. Harry touched them and tried to make them disappear, instead he melted them and they had to watch as hot metal pooled around the stone. This happened to most of the gates and Harry didn’t understand why this was happening. Even Antonio didn’t know and the basilisk had centuries of knowledge. Finally, with all the grates melted away, Harry watched as Antonio slithered up into the halls, and then leaned down to grab his cloak with his teeth and drop him unceremoniously onto the ground. Harry realized they weren’t far from the Slytherin entrance. He pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket and wrapped it around him.    
    “ _ Have fun, and be safe. Don’t let them hurt you, I like you too much for that to happen _ ,” Harry waved and Antonio nodded his head before trailing down the corridor and up the stairs. Harry entered the common room and looked out at the single student who was half asleep on the couch with texts and parchments in her hands. Harry capped her ink and pulled the quill from her fingers. Moving everything away from her so she could rest without worrying about ruining her work. He went into his room and slid under his covers. Antonio must be having fun, he thought and he knew he had done something right. He also hoped that Ronald somehow stumbled upon Antonio, and though he didn’t want that Weasley to die, he wouldn’t mind him being paralyzed if he somehow saw him in a reflection of some sort. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that I haven't been properly thanking my beta or mentioning her. So I thank my you RR for helping me check over everything. 
> 
> The updates will be a little more sporadic as the first installation was pretty much all written when I first started posting it and this one is sort of 'write on the spot' so yeah. Just a warning. I will try to post at least once a week. 
> 
> Enjoy c:

    Severus had tried calling for Marvolo twice now and each time Bellatrix told him the same thing, that he was indisposed. What did that even mean? If he was in a meeting then she could have simply said so. When he thought he was dying, for a second time, Marvolo walked in through the flames and rushed to Severus who really did look like death. He got down beside him in the chair and his cold skin was, well, it was cold but his eyes were feral. Severus looked ill, and if he didn’t know any better he would say that Severus was dying or in the last moments of life. Severus pulled Marvolo up to him with one hand and Marvolo’s body nearly threw the chair off as Severus pulled him with such a force. Severus had grabbed Marvolo’s jaw and held it, pushing his head to the side before he felt his fangs drop and he inhaled Marvolo’s blood, he could feel his pulse and it thrummed through his body.    
    “Severus,” Marvolo started but then he felt a nip and he was assuming what came next would be an actual bite. He felt suction and he closed his eyes. No matter how bizarrely these things happened, no matter what was going on, Severus always somehow made him moan. Even when Severus wasn’t being as demanding or as dominant, he made Marvolo so… there’s a word, but as Severus took a bite, Marvolo let them all float away along with his thoughts. He relaxed into the bliss of whatever in a vampire’s bite did to stimulate someone and he felt his heart beating faster and faster as it attempted to replace the blood that was being taken. All that was doing was feeding it to Severus. Finally Severus pulled back and licked the wound, letting it stitch itself back together as if small spiders knitted the wound shut with their webs. “Severus,” Marvolo said again and Severus looked down, his hand relaxing on Marvolo’s robes. 

    “I’m sorry.” 

    “Don’t be,” Marvolo sat up and leaned forward for a kiss but contacted with glass. He looked down and between their faces Severus had stopped him by producing a phial of blood replenishing potion. Marvolo broke the seal and pulled the cap off before drinking it. It was horrible, just as all of Severus’ potions tasted, but it worked and his heart started to return to a normal rate. “Are you satisfied now?” 

    “I am, but I would be more satisfied if you satisfied me again,” Severus let himself smile and Marvolo stood up and picked Severus up. The vampire crossed his arms and looked as regal as one could while being carried like a bride. Severus was gently placed on the bed and Marvolo shut, silenced their door and put a lock and warding spell on it to keep Harry or Draco out. They did not need or want a repeat of last year’s events. Marvolo pushed Severus back and paid attention to his neck, sucking and biting and Severus moaned as Marvolo bit down, hard enough to leave an indent in his skin and to draw pinpricks of blood. Half way through undressing Severus, the vampire’s eyes opened and he moved quickly, tumbling over and forcing Marvolo onto his back. He kissed him and slid his hands under his shirt. Severus raked his nails over Marvolo’s taut muscles and then pulled his hands back to start to undress his lover. Severus tried to kiss every new patch of skin that was hidden under Marvolo’s shirt but when he reached his nipples he let his fangs out and bit down. Marvolo yelped and arched up. He would never admit to doing such a thing either. Severus pulled back to lap at the wound. Marvolo had thought of many things, he was older than Severus and had much more experience than his potions master, and the idea of bleeding never appealed to him during sex before, but when it was Severus causing it, and when it felt so good, it was hard not to like it. He reached down and grabbed Severus’ hair as he moved lower, pushing the buttons out and away until he took another bite from his hip, above his trousers, at the iliac artery. Marvolo felt the cool air hit his exposed torso and then he felt the tickle of his blood trickling down his side. They both fell into a languid kiss, Marvolo purposely cutting his tongue on a fang. 

     Severus pushed Marvolo’s shirt off, pushing it to the side as Marvolo continued with all the little buttons on his robe.  _ Damned robes _ , Marvolo was trying to concentrate but his vampire kept making little pleased noises and was busy giving him love bites, how was he supposed to focus? He eventually just pulled the robe apart --   _ to hell with those buttons _ ! -- and pushed it off of Severus’ shoulders, before focusing on the vest and shirt he had to take off. They were easier to remove and Severus stopped enough for Marvolo to remove them. Severus pushed Marvolo back and ground himself back against his hardness, Severus felt the top of his trousers open and soon he was taking them off along with his socks, shoes and undergarments. He removed the same from Marvolo although he had run into his living area with bare feet (it wasn’t as if he was expecting to go on some great adventure, Severus had told him on several occasions that he could not leave his living quarters without the headmaster knowing of his presence) He spread Marvolo’s legs and kissed the inside of his thighs, biting down over his femoral artery, healing it to keep his lover from bleeding out. That wouldn’t be good, and would definitely ruin the mood.

    It was a good thing that both Marvolo and Severus were proficient enough with wandless magic to  _ accio _ the lube to them. Although when they both did it, their magic got confused and it slammed into Marvolo’s hand with a harsh slap. Severus stared down at Marvolo with one eyebrow raised. The Dark Lord before him wasn’t as scary as everyone thought, he had been, but not anymore, at least not to Severus. In that moment, Severus felt so special, because he was the only one who got to see Marvolo like this. There was some form of attachment between them and while Severus refused to believe that someone could love him, he did believe that their was some type of pull there, something that made Severus wish that Marvolo could love him (or that he could believe his lover when he mentioned the ‘L’ word). Being caught off guard as he was lost in his thoughts, Severus was pushed to his side and then Marvolo sat up. Severus looked like some dark God, his hair splayed out around his head, like some sort of halo, like an angel of distress and death. Perhaps that is what Severus was, an angel of death, he did feed off the lifeblood of others. He gripped himself and coated his member in lube, that was warmer, at least warm enough to give the effect that Severus was alive, not that he really minded the feeling of Severus’ body when he was very obviously a corpse. Marvolo lined up with Severus who reached out to grip one of Marvolo’s arms and Marvolo pushed in, not slowly and not roughly, but quickly. 

    Marvolo came first. It wasn’t that Severus couldn’t produce semen like a living human, but it was much harder to stimulate him enough for him to come. Most of his sexual pleasure was derived from biting and drinking the blood of others. Little touches were what got him nowadays opposed to sex, perhaps it was the fact that he couldn’t feel much anymore, but he did feel the flood of warmth within himself when Marvolo came. Unlike Marvolo, Severus didn’t sweat, and he hardly had to breath, although he was forcing his lungs to take in air to give the feeling of fucking a living person to Marvolo, who he was honestly afraid would not want him when he realized that he wasn’t even alive anymore, he was just a walking corpse, no better than a ghost, and surely more forgettable than a ghost. Marvolo pulled out of Severus and leaned down to kiss him and Severus bit his lip and with the hot puffs of air and sharp breaths that Marvolo took, the feel of his chest rising and falling quicker than usual, Severus could feel that, his hand rested on Marvolo’s chest and he was very much aware of the Marvolo’s panting, trying to catch his breath. Maybe Marvolo didn’t notice, or maybe he didn’t care, but he quickly gathered his things and dressed just enough to cover himself before stopping and leaning down to kiss Severus who looked very ravished, even if he had done more of the literal ravishing, and gave him a long kiss, slow and pleasant, just enough to let Severus know that he felt affection towards him and short enough as to not make Severus annoyed with his neediness. Severus watched as he left. He should have said something, or at least given Marvolo a blood replenisher, without that potion Marvolo would likely be sluggish for a few days and he was probably going to need to eat better if he didn’t want to have weak, anemic (iron-deficient) blood. 

    Marvolo went back to Grimmauld Place and went to his room, ignoring Bella’s questioning and shutting the door on her. She gave up and went back to doing whatever she did. Marvolo didn’t pay attention to her much unless he needed her, or she needed him. Marvolo took a shower, that was first on his list, but then the list could be cursed because Marvolo got under the covers in his and Severus’ bed and let his body warm up the cool sheets. He fell asleep quickly, and he was out like the dead. 

     As fall dissipated into the death of winter, the dungeons got even colder, and Severus was forced to wear more heating charms to feel heat if anyone brush against him. He didn’t want to scare anyone, although his students finding out he was a vampire wouldn’t shock them. Most first years already suspected he was undead but most of the first years thought that. How could a living person be so cruel? This was their logic, Severus saw it, and he knew that he had to act a certain way to hold the roles that he had been put into. If life’s a stage, then this is being filmed and he couldn’t afford to mess up. Not only did Albus suspect Severus to be on his side, but he was looking after Harry Potter who wasn’t a Potter anymore. That didn’t mean he was any less of the child he was rumoured to be. In potions he was extremely quick to pick up concepts and his potions were always acceptable if not more than what Severus expected from a twelve year old and Draco was the same. It was surprising that even the fourth year Weasley twins were good at potions, but they liked to make potions that they hadn’t been asked to make or make something that would somehow affect Severus later. Like when his hands were stained gold for two days. That was interesting but not at all amusing, at least not to the potions master. 

    In potions, they had the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Severus had just stopped Ms. Lovegood from making a toxic potion with even deadlier fumes, and of course it wasn’t anything near what he had asked for. She had told him, as if he wasn’t an analytical snake who often turned his nose up at others and berate them for their failures, that she was simply making fumes to rid of all the pesky snake-eaters. Of course, he knew that she was talking about the Hufflepuffs. They ate snakes, and so did eagles and Severus had his own theories as to what she meant and to what her real reason was, or if that was the truth, why she would want to murder or make her peers ill. 

     Ginny wasn’t picked on by her dour professor as much as Ronald, or really any of the other Gryffindors, except the twins, who had also been out of his line of fire. As always Severus started the class and tapped the board, the potion they were to be making and their instructions on the board. He had also planned on demanding a report on the Essence of Wormwood as it was dangerous and he was reminded how stupid children were the last class of first years when someone decided to play with Essence of Wormwood because he had heard that it was powerful and one of the ‘evilest’ ingredients that ‘evil’ potions makers used to make ‘evil’ potions to do ‘evil’ things. In reality, he nearly put himself in a coma and he had assigned to them a paper on just how dangerous that ingredient was. 

     After class, Harry was waiting for Ginny in the hall. 

     “Shouldn’t you be in class?” She asked as she twisted around to check for Harry’s blond shadow. He wasn’t anywhere around though which was disturbing. Did something happen? 

    “Free period,” Harry turned to look at where Ginny was staring. “Oh,” he realized what she was doing, “Draco’s in his trunk tending to the small garden he had started. He is doing something with bonsai or something. Whatever it is, it was imported or something so he has to make sure the pH levels are even. I don’t really know much about it, that’s plant stuff and I don’t know about that…” 

    “Oh, okay. Well, what do you need? Is everything okay? I have a class I need to get to, but that can wait.” 

    “Get to class, but meet with me in the first floor girl’s bathroom after dinner, alright? And tell the dubious duo as well alright?” Ginny nodded and Harry smiled before waving her off. Harry saw all the sixth year’s gathering around the outside of the classroom and really, he didn’t want to be bothered by any of the Gryffindors. The older boys and girls had a tendency to pick on the younger children, especially ones who were Slytherins. Harry headed down to the janitorial office, or where he knew Mr. Filch would be. He knocked on the door and didn’t get an answer. He turned around and Filch was standing behind him. Mrs. Norris was pawing at Harry’s legs and rubbing her face against his calves. Harry reached down and picked her up, petting her fur and giving her little kisses even if she smelled like urine and dust. She was a kitty cat and they deserved all the love. All animals did. 

    “What do you want?” Filch grumbled. 

    “Well, I had a free period and I heard someone mentioning that you were cleaning the trophy room by hand and I wanted to offer you my assistance. We all make the mess, it isn’t exactly fair that you have to clean up after five hundred children now is it?” Filch analyzed the wizard before him. What was wrong with this child? Was he somehow off his rocker? 

    “Are you going to break the trophies or paint them or do something nasty to them if you help me clean?” 

   “No sir,” Harry set Mrs. Norris down and smiled at her, cooing. Filch didn’t understand. This was the same child that had that blonde boy follow him around. They both liked Mrs. Norris and they were both respectful to him, even that little Malfoy. Argus might not have a magical core, but that didn’t mean he was oblivious to the magical world and he, more than others, knew the politics behind the wizarding world and which families meant what. Both boys were high up in the ranks with powerful families, yet they were talking with him? A squib. “I don’t have to help if you don’t trust me, but could I stay and play with Mrs. Norris. I don’t have a cat, you see, and she’s such a sweetheart. I love her so much, I love all cats. Actually, I love all animals, even that infernal mutt that Mr. Hagrid keeps. He just drools and is gross, but Mrs. Norris isn’t gross, she’s so fluffy!” 

    “I see. Well, I could use some assistance. How much longer until your next class?” Harry cast a tempus and saw Mr. Filch wince as if in pain. Harry knew that Mr. Filch wasn’t magical, or at least he didn’t have a strong enough core to produce usable magic. It was sad because he came from a good family, they just inbred to a point to stay pure and then they lost all of their magic. It was a shame, but that didn’t make him bad. Although he was grumpy, he wasn’t mean, and he obviously cared about the students and his job which were redeeming qualities. 

    “Thirty minutes sir.” 

    “Alright then. Could you perhaps help me after dinner or in the early morning?”

    “I will be up in the morning, bright and early and I’ll meet you in the trophy room. I’ll be ready to help, I promise,” Filch narrowed his eyes at the boy but his features softened as he could just tell that this student was one of the better ones. One of the students that showed him respect rather than tolerated or pitied him and definitely not one of the students who mocked or berated him. He got enough of that from his family and even some of the professors. Outside of school he was constantly criticized and shunned because of his lack of magical ability. He wasn’t magical enough to be accepted by witches and wizards and he was too magical to be accepted by muggles. It was a lonely existence. 

     “I will see you then, Mr.” 

    “Black-Gaunt. I should be on my way then, Mr. Filch. See you in the morning,” Harry ran off and waved. Mr. Filch just nodded in acknowledgement before returning to his office to sort through the files, he needed to clean out his filing cabinet or something, it was atrocious and in shambles. If only he had the luxury of magic to do his job for him. He was glad that he was gifted with a job though, nobody else wanted him. He was useless in the eyes of the magical world and growing up in a family that hoped him to be magical he didn’t have any muggle knowledge to support him in that world either. Harry smiled to himself before there was a scream, blood curdling and obnoxious. Harry followed that shriek and he came across a group of girls and a few boys who were talking to each other. Harry pushed through the huddled group and saw what they were looking at. Professor Lockhart was frozen with a mirror in one hand and the other hand in his hair. He obviously wasn’t dead because if he had been dead then his body would be limp, or at least in rigor mortis, not stuck in this position. He was paralyzed. Harry looked around the hall that they were in and walked off to find someone to gather the idiot before someone molested him or stole something off his frozen body. He finally found the transfiguration classroom and he knocked and walked in. Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk as her students took a quiz. He walked as quick as he could to the front of the classroom. 

     “I suspect you have a good reason for this interruption Mr. Black.” 

    “Yes. I was wandering the halls, as it is my free period, and I found Professor Lockhart surrounded by a group of students. He seems to be paralyzed. I think he may need some help and you were the closest professor. I thought you should know, but I am sorry for interrupting your class. Trust that it is important or I wouldn’t have been so rude,” as he spoke McGonagall gathered herself and called the headmaster through the floo in her office. She walked back to the classroom and had a prefect in her class look over the rest of the class. A Gryffindor and then followed Mr. Black-Gaunt to the scene of the paralyzed professor. She shooed off the students and she was soon joined by the headmaster who requested Narcissa join them in order to transfer their professor to the infirmary. 

    Narcissa got Lockhart situated on a bed and pulled the sheets up around the bed closed. She walked out to face two questioning professors. By dinner this would be around the entire school, if not sooner. 

    At dinner, the Great Hall was even more alive than usual with conversations about their paralyzed professor. Of course the loudest of the conversationalists was Ronald Weasley and he made it clear that he thought one of the Slytherin’s, particularly Hadrian, was behind the paralyzation of Lockhart. In fact, he started a few rumors about how he supposedly did it and before the meal was over it had already made it to the Slytherin table. It was a breeding ground for gossip and it was alive with lies and half truths. 

    “Hadrian paralyze the professor? Ha! That’s a joke. He couldn’t even stop those cornish pixies,” Blaise was trying to make the others believe that Harry couldn’t have hurt the professor, but in reality, he was just berating him and Harry sighed and shrugged his shoulders. 

    “Gee, thanks. That makes me look so super competent. I’m leaving,” Harry stood up and Draco stayed behind to argue and bicker with Blaise for a little bit and then bid Luna goodnight, as she became the Slytherin table’s resident Ravenclaw. She waved him off and said something as cryptic as she always did. Ginny met up with Draco. 

     “He is in the first floor girl’s bathroom,” she said and Draco knew what that meant. They both redirected themselves to head to the bathroom and Harry was sitting on one of the sinks and letting Myrtle vent at him. She eventually stopped her whining and left them alone as Harry opened the chamber. Ginny grabbed Harry’s arm and then both twins came into the room and not soon later Luna stumbled in. 

     “Was I the only one not invited?” Draco complained, hurt that Harry didn’t invite him to the gathering and he had to find out what his contracted future husband was doing from the Weaslette. 

    “You’ve already seen it, I figured you wouldn’t want to come back down,” Harry said as he watched as Luna was the first to trust them and jump down into the tube followed by the twins who held each other’s hand so that they wouldn’t separate as they slid down the pipe slide. Ginny was hesitant but she eventually sat down at the side of the opening and then she pushed herself over the ledge and into the slide. They all followed Harry down through the bone covered path and to the circular door. It opened as the snake slithered around the circle, pushing back all the other snakes. He walked into the chamber. Before anything else could happen, Luna was running for the doors. She didn’t touch them but she waited, a little impatiently, in front of  them. Harry and the rest made their way to her and Harry unlocked the door and everybody walked inside. Ginny was the only one who seemed to be hesitant when entering the rooms and she remained hesitant until they walked through a short hallway and pushed open a door. They were standing in a lovely little home. To Ginny it felt so welcoming. 

    “Welcome back Master sir,” Bipsy said and Ginny squealed picking Bipsy up and hugging her. 

    “You’re so cute! You’re a house elf! Do you live here all by yourself?” Bipsy didn’t know how to react so she let Ginny hold her like a baby. She looked at Master Black-Gaunt sir for guidance and he just shrugged. 

    “Welcome home guys, this is my base of operations and I will be finding a way for all of you to access it without needing me to open everything with parseltongue. Bipsy can help much more rooms for all of us. I have the blood of two of the founders in me, therefore half of the castle is mine, and I’m claiming this to be in my half,” Everyone looked to Harry. What did that mean? What did any of this mean? The twins went to explore and Luna started a fire in the firepit before she lay on the floor and spread out by the fire much like Harry’s snakes did at home. Draco reached down to hold Harry’s hand. 

    “I hope you have an idea about what you’re doing… why wasn’t I informed of any plans? You don’t have to tell me everything, but I don’t like being left out of the loop. Did I use that correctly?” 

    “I do have things planned. We’re going to help get rid of Dumbledore and we will start by ridding of potential threats and those who are loyal to him. When he has nothing we will strike and he will be gone. Then this castle will be under our rule, as you will be marrying into the most Ancient and Noble house of Gaunt/Slytherin,” Draco sighed and put his head on Harry’s shoulder. He looked to Luna who was talking to herself, or to fairies, he was sure, and Ginny had asked Bipsy for a tour of the house and the twins… well they disappeared but hopefully they were still alive or something close to it. It would be no good to have them dead, now would it. 

    He was young, but he could feel his desire in his bones, he could feel desire for success and for power stronger -- to be the strongest, and he had who he needed and what he needed to accomplish it all. 


	6. Chapter 6

   It had been a week and Harry did as he said and met with Filch in the trophy room every day since the morning after taking his friends into the Chamber. It was eerie and quiet when children weren’t up roaming the halls. The sunlight streamed in bright rays  across the floor and reflected off the metal trophies and on the lacquered plaques. The photos covered behind the glass of the tall shelves, and their picture frames, moved with the same enthusiasm the wizards had when the photo was taken. So much life and history here, it was nice to know that somethings were still sacred, even to people who didn’t truly care. These artifacts were important to Hogwarts, Harry wondered if the school was sentient enough to realize this. The school had enough magic to be sentient, but nothing so far had given him any reason to believe the school had it’s own intelligence. 

    Harry was dusting off the pictures hung on the walls. Filch trusted Harry to not break anything, but he didn’t trust his age. Twelve was a clumsy age, it was fumbling youth and he didn’t want the child to accidentally break something. It wasn’t that there weren’t enough trophies, it was that Harry seemed to care about this place, and Filch was earnest in his concern and the guilt the boy would feel if he destroyed something. He didn’t want him to have to feel that if he made a mistake. Mistakes were to help you learn, not to make you feel shame. Mrs. Norris was prowling the hall they were in and would every now and then brush up against Harry and Argus’ legs, wanting their attention and affection. Both people adored her and left her satisfied and feeling as loved as a cat can feel. 

    Filch was finally a quarter done with the trophy room when the first signs of life stirred around them.    
    “You go to breakfast, I will eat later. I don’t have classes and you need energy to do your best,” Argus watched as Harry rubbed Mrs. Norris’ stomach again, his fingers getting covered by her long fur.

    “Alright. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Also, before I leave, can I ask you another question, after this one?” Filch nodded. “Do you ever feel betrayed by others who turn their backs on you because you’re different?” 

    “Yes, why?” Filch tensed. Was this some tactic to embarrass him? Had he been too trusting? This was his fault, he should have known. Wizards hated him. 

    “I’m sorry… that’s not fair to you… if you ever need any help with anything, you can ask me and my father will help you. He helped me when I wasn’t liked either. Have a good day, Mr. Filch!” Harry ran off, back to the dungeon to grab his school bag with all his books and supplies and meet up with his ‘pack’ before breakfast. 

    At the Slytherin table, many of the Slytherins had given Harry a wide berth for him and his ‘own’. It wasn’t that he had done something to earn their respect as much as they heard the whispers of who his father really was, and some even overheard some of Harry’s friends talking about You-Know-Who and they were honestly scared of him. Slytherins, if not good for bravery, intelligence or loyalty, were known for their self-preservation and none of them were dumb enough to give shit to such a powerful family. Malfoy was strong enough and could destroy many of them, even more now with Harry’s supposed father. This led the the questions of if Professor Snape was really his father, and if Bellatrix was his mother, why wasn’t he a Lestrange rather than a Gaunt? All the old families knew of the Gaunts. They were so focused on being purebloods that they resorted to inbreeding and that polluted their magic. When their mysteries daughter had a child, with a muggle (or so it was rumored and talked about in a very hush-hush manner when they spoke about such things) and therefore created one of the strongest magical cores of all time. It was an anomaly, and nobody knew who that child was, but many had ideas as to who it could be, and that was all leading to Harry’s father as his last name was Gaunt. And if his father was the Dark Lord, then the Dark Lord was a halfblood. Not just any halfblood, but one of the strongest wizards of all time. 

    Beside Harry was Draco to his left, just as Severus sat to his father, and to his right was Luna who could be close to his right hand. Beside Luna was Pansy. They were both quite helpful, and he would venture to guess that they would be very powerful. Even more so if they worked together, they both excelled in each other’s weaknesses and therefore were very balanced. Hermione and Ginny sat across from them and Millicent was beside Ginny, making her eat food. Ron had commented, calling her fat and some other meaner names. Of course he hadn’t meant it, but he was her big brother and even if she knew he was just being mean, it still hurt her and she was taking it to heart. How could your family be so cruel? Fred and George had knocked him upside the head and met up with Millicent and Pansy who were putting their money together to take Ginny out to buy her a dress. They would ask Lady Malfoy or Bellatrix to join them for their trip, but they wanted to have Ginny feel good about herself. She was eleven, she was far too young to be having such problems. She was very bright and Hermione helped her with her transfiguration homework so that she could pull up her marks. The youngest Weasley wasn’t the best at transfiguration and Harry helped her and Luna with potions as they were both good in their own way, but Severus, in all honesty, wasn’t the best at explaining things and he didn’t dumb things down for people who needed it to be explained further than he had explained it. (Not really ‘dumbed down’ but rather put in layman’s terms.) Speaking of Severus, Harry didn’t stare at him, but he caught a few glances of him at the head table and he looked very tired. He looked worn down and almost fiend-like. Harry hadn’t gone to seen him as he had been busy in the chamber and he was worrying about his other father now, he looked horrible and he could see the few other students who were looking up at the teacher’s table as well. He had a feeling they weren’t looking up there to watch Professor Flitwick make his silverware dance around as if they were very skinny, metal humans. McGonagall had helped with a littler transfiguration and Flitwick was up with the charms. Both professors looked to be enjoying themselves but his eyes ran back over to Narcissa and Severus. Narcissa had Yaxley sitting next to her and he looked bored and annoyed. 

    “What are you thinking about so hard?” Ginny asked, kicking Harry under the table, not enough to hurt him but enough to shock him out of his trance. Harry poked his food with his fork, suddenly not very hungry even though he had the sweetest of things covered in all kinds of flavoured syrups and honey. His little, fae body wasn’t feeling the usual excitement that seeing so much sugar gave him, in fact he felt a little sick. He drank some milk and leaned forward on his elbow. Draco looked at him, almost appalled and pushed his elbow down and off the table. How improper! 

    “I’m just thinking about how much I care about all of you, and how bad Severus looks,” Harry cast one more brief glance up at his professor and father. All of his friend’s looked up with him and then back down as if they were all programmed to act in unison. 

    “Have you spoken with him recently? He looked healthy for a little bit a few days ago, but he’s been, I don’t know, depressed lately?” Hermione took a small bite of her food before pushing it away, she didn’t eat much, but she was concerned about Ginny’s refusal to eat so she tried to eat more as an example before trying to get her friend to eat. Ginny didn’t budge but she did drink some pumpkin juice so at least she was getting some sugars to help her through the day. She needed energy for her brain to work and to be productive. 

    “No. We’ve all been a little busy. I’ll see him tonight, just to make sure he’s alright,” and honestly, Harry missed Severus. He wanted to just hug him and read with him or help him grade papers, which he knew the students could do better on but simply didn’t care enough to put the effort into their work. He was just glad that Lockhart was still in the infirmary because he didn’t want to deal with him. There was a Quidditch match this weekend as well and although none of them wanted to go, except Draco who loved Quidditch but not enough to play it (and also avoided out of  respect for all the trees that were killed to make the brooms). Fred and George got up and one wrapped his arms around Ginny and the other one walked around the table to hug Luna.    
    “Our precious baby sisters,” they chorused. They did this almost every morning before they did the next bit. At the head table all the teacher’s tensed as they saw the twins get from their table and before long the twins were shooting sparks and little fireworks at each other, over the heads of other students and in between the Slytherins, as they raced each other out of the room, running down both sides of the Slytherin table. George ran into the wall but peeled himself from the stone and followed after his brother. Professor McGonagall was up and walking as quick as she could towards the doors the twins had just ran out of. They were so much trouble and they were going to seriously hurt others or themselves one day if they weren’t careful and continued their antics. 

    By the time the other students cleared out of the Great Hall and went to their classes to wait until their professors arrived to let them into their classrooms, the group partially made of Slytherins and then the other houses had all said their goodbyes and went to their own classes. 

    That evening, after dinner, Harry let Ginny into the chamber where she was going to spend time with Bipsy and take advantage of the information in the library, he went back to the dungeons where he knocked on Severus’ office door. Severus called for him to enter and Harry closed the door behind him. 

    “Is something wrong?” Was Severus’ first reaction, he wanted to stand up and check Harry for any wounds. The boy hadn’t come to him for weeks, he just assumed he hadn’t wanted to be bothered by him and Severus was fine with him not wanting him around, but not really. It stung a little as Severus realized he had gotten attached despite his efforts, not matter how weak, to not become attached or wanting of Harry’s affection. Harry walked up to his desk and jumped up and sat  beside his father and professor. 

     “No. Are you alright, Severus?”    
    “I’m fine,” Severus put his quill down as he had been marking up papers and the test he had given to his sixth years (which disappointingly, most of them seemed to have failed, but he hadn’t expected any of them to get a good grade) for their rudeness during their class. Severus was a little on edge if not extremely irritable. 

    “Are you sure? You don’t look very good, and by that I mean you don’t look healthy. Are you sad? Father was sad, he said it was a lonely sadness. Are you feeling that?” Even though Harry had seemed to have grown up, he still didn’t understand a lot of things, and subtly was one of them and tact was the other. Of course, he was also a child and Severus didn’t expect Harry to be a master of any of those things, and he hadn’t been raised like Draco so he couldn’t compare Harry to him, not fairly anyway. He had also suspected that Harry was becoming more independent, that he didn’t want help, and that was to be expected, he was at the age where he wasn’t really a kid anymore but he wasn’t a teenager. He hadn’t been pleasant when he was Harry’s age, not by a longshot. 

    “No, I’m not sad. I am very tired though,” he smiled up at Harry who smiled down at him. Harry slid off the side of the desk and sat down in Severus’ lap. He looked down at the papers and threw his legs over Severus’ legs, snaking one arm back around Severus’ neck so he didn’t slide off of his knees. He picked up the papers with his other hand and he looked at some of the comments. They weren’t exactly fair, but from the looks of the test it was given in a sudden manner. Harry thumbed through them and some of their answers were absurd and completely wrong while others were left blank or restating the same thing from a previous question. 

    “Then you should get some sleep. Do you want me to help you grade these so you can go to bed early?” Severus pulled out an extra quill from his desk drawer and set it down for Harry. There were so many things that he would have to do after he was done grading papers, even with Harry’s help he wouldn’t be back until late early morning and he would be exhausted. Vampires don’t need much sleep, the type of vampire Severus was needed even less, but not getting any sleep for five days in a row wasn’t very healthy, even for the undead. He, after drinking even more of Marvolo’s blood, couldn’t get enough and was forced to hunt all night, killing animals, depleting his stock of human blood and even going to Hogsmeade (only once) to take his share. He was turning into a beast, a monster, and he couldn’t help but to blame himself. If he hadn’t let himself be put in such a position, he would have never have tasted anything so good and he certainly wouldn’t be slaughtering vast amounts of animals like an insane butcher. 

    Severus told Harry what to look for and he trusted him to help him, because Harry was good at potions, that and he knew that Harry wouldn’t dock any more points than he would have, in fact, Harry might try to find the good within the paper and tests and give them points for just having a reaching grasp of the concepts they were learning about. Harry took out a stack of papers from one of his third year classes and then Severus had worked quicker so that Harry wouldn’t feel it necessary to help him and so he could go back to Draco, who he was sure Harry would rather be spending time with. Eventually, Harry yawned and turned around, resting his head against Severus’ shoulder. 

    “I’ve got to go to bed. You don’t have to grade all of them tonight. I can be back tomorrow to help if you want, or we could wait until the weekend. I can stay back while you’re at the Quidditch game,” Harry got up and cleaned the quill of ink before putting it back in the drawer Severus had taken it from. “Goodnight, I love you. Have good dreams and get some sleep! Eight hours, mister,” Harry walked out of the door and Severus leaned forward, placing his forehead against the desk and groaning. He hated his job, he hated everything and everyone besides his family, and even they were too cheerful for him at the moment. He finished the last paper in one of the segregated stacks, divided by year and then organized by assignment and the dates in which they were handed in. He cleaned his quill and put it in the cup that held quills at the top corner of his desk. He attacked all the papers on top of each other and put them in a different drawer before locking it and putting a few wards over it. He couldn’t trust any of the students not to take the pages out or even correct them themselves or something equally as foolish. 

 

    The train back to King’s Cross was so liberating. Harry loved learning, but he was surrounded by idiots most of the time and that was not a prime learning environment. More importantly, he wasn’t learning anything important. Yes, there was the core classes, but DADA was now just a free period as the headmaster hadn’t been able to find a replacement professor. This was great for his father, and for everyone under the Dark Lord. It made the headmaster appear incompetent (not that he wasn’t, he was just good at hiding it) and that could mean his job, or that was the hope at least. Mrs. Weasley was standing beside Bellatrix and like usual, the other parents avoided her and kept their children away from her. Mrs. Weasley had been kicked from the Order of the Phoenix. She could have been a spy, but the changes were too drastic and therefore noticeable. Severus would have to remain in place as he had been doing for years. Arthur was refusing to talk to her and he was actually waiting closer to the train so he could get to  _ his _ children before she could, no matter how childish or petty, she would not take away his children. 

    Four days earlier, Arthur had been given a notice of an inquiry about the living environment for his children as a search for parental competence. He had the Burrow, as Molly had left upon their argument. She was living in the Prewett Manor, the large pureblood estate that she had been raised in along with her two house elves that belonged to the family. She was everything Arthur didn’t want in a wife, everything he was against. She had house elves, basically slaves (although they were more like indentured servants) and she wanted to teach the etiquette of the world his father and mother had fought against. His mother was burned off the Black family portrait for marrying his father and if that was acceptable, to take someone’s family away, then what else would his children be taught? Speaking of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, the Lord of the Black House was to annul their marriage and while Arthur didn’t want Molly to hold any of the reputation she had, she hadn’t wanted any of it and claimed that her family was more important and that she would give back the Weasley name if he so wanted it. She had called him a blood traitor and then asked magic for apology for believing him and buying into his crap! How dare she! The Weasley house was very much in shambles and Arthur blamed Molly and Molly thought that Arthur was being childish and shouldn’t be so stubborn when he was in the wrong. Of course, she was also being stubborn but she didn’t see it that way. 

    The Hogwarts Express pulled into the station and the doors opened. Children started to leave the train and find their parents. Then after a long wait, from the Slytherin side of the train, and in a pack, Harry and his friends walked out and regrouped in a circle. The Weasleys went to get their things but Molly waved them over. Ron had gone to grab his trunk but it had already been taken somewhere. Ron went to his father and demanded to know where his trunk was, what was wrong with his mother and what was going on overall. Arthur made his way to Molly and the other children who were all being greeted by their families. Even Xenophilius had come to gather Luna and he said hello to Bellatrix and Molly along with the other parents who came to gather their children. When Hermione’s parents went with their daughter, they had gotten her stuff for her, they met with everyone else. 

    Mrs. Granger and Mr. Granger were greeted by Bellatrix even though they were muggles. After all, muggle borns came from pure-blooded families, so the parents weren’t muggles, they were just squibs from a long suib line until Hermione. It was filthy, real, horrible muggles that they all disliked so much and Hermione was a bright and kind girl so there was no reason to hate her parents now was there? Arthur came up to the group and stood between Mr and Mrs Granger. 

    “You’re muggles?” They nodded. “I’m Arthur Weasley, and I know this is a horrible entrance into our world, but these people are not good people and you would be wise to have your daughter stop associating with them.” 

    “Who do you think you are? Telling us how we should raise our daughter and who we should allow her to be friendly with? We’ve just met them and they have been kind while you have questioned our judgment and ability to parent and guide our child. You, Mr. Weasley, have been incredibly rude,” Mrs. Granger said angrily, wrapping an arm around Hermione. Arthur glared at Molly. 

    “Molly, I don’t think this is appropriate. You will let my children come back to the Burrow with me. It is not right or fair to split them apart,” all three Grangers moved out of Arthur’s way. Bellatrix moved a little bit closer to Molly and from the holster around her wrist, her wand fell into her hand. 

    “The children won’t be split up, because their coming to the Prewett Manor with me. Their things are already there,” she looked at Ginny who was confused. “They were gathered by our house elves, dear,” she looked back at Arthur, putting one hand on Ginny’s shoulder as Fred and George inched closer to the woman who wasn’t really their mother but had raised them since they were infants, so she was a mother  _ enough _ . “Would you deny our children the luxury they have been deprived of, would you really take away everything that we are being offered due to some misplaced sense of righteousness and loyalty?” 

     “Mum!” Ron shouted. His voice got quiet as if he was about to cry. “How can you say that? We have a good life. We have everything we need. Did you leave? Did you abandon us?” 

    “Never, I would never leave you. I love you, and I won’t make you chose between your father and I, because I’m sure he still loves all of you, and I love you so much, but during the holidays I would really like it if you stayed with me, but I won’t force any of you to stay with me.” 

    “No, we’re staying with you,” Fred and George said, already taller than their mother. They looked down at Ginny and Percy was hiding because everyone was staring at their family and it was embarrassing. He would never be taken seriously if his family was like this. Ginny reached up and put her hand over her mother’s and Percy walked up enough to reach out and take his mother’s other hand. 

    “We’re staying with you,” Ginny said and Percy just mumbled the same thing, but Molly understood. Percy was a little different, but it wasn’t a bad thing and she wouldn’t ever make him leave or do anything to hurt him. 

    “Well, that’s good to hear. Your brothers have already come. There is a ball we have been invited to and they wanted to attend as well. Ronald, would you like to come with us? If you would like to stay with your father then you can, we won’t love you any less, you will always be my son.” 

    “How can you do this?” Ron was almost crying and he held his rat in his hands. Bellatrix thought that rat looked a little familiar but she wasn’t about to cast a curse because she didn’t want to hit the child, not matter how annoying magical children were to be cared for and protected. No exceptions, they all deserved happiness and the chance to be an adult who could function to the best of their ability. Arthur put his hand on his son’s back. 

    “We would like his things sent to the Burrow. Come on, let’s go,” Arthur left without another word. He hadn’t even said anything to the other children and from the hand tightening around her’s, which was Percy and the fall of Ginny’s head along with the biting of the lips for her twins, she was going to have some very distraught children to deal with for a few days. Hermione went to Ginny and hugged her. 

     “Have a great holiday, okay?” She waved to everyone as the Grangers departed, all three of them whispering about the interaction they had witnessed. They knew that parents had fights, but they couldn’t imagine ever arguing in public like Arthur did, or having the courage to tell someone that they should or shouldn’t do things in regards to their child, he didn’t even know them! Luna hugged Ginny and told them that she would see them at the ball before she and her father took their things and then they apparated away from there. Pansy and Millicent asked Bellatrix and Mrs. Weasley if they could take Ginny out shopping for the ball and Mrs Weasley told them that their idea was a good one and would allow it. Bellatrix squealed, of course she would take them shopping, she hadn’t shopped for a girl in ages and she wanted to make sure that they all had the best and nicest clothes, this was a very formal ball and they needed to dress properly. Pansy, Millicent and Theo left with their parents. Blaise’s mother was shouting for him and finally she dragged him away from a girl by his ear and apparated them home. Bella wrapped her arms around Draco and Harry’s shoulders and apparated them outside the wards of Grimmauld Place and quickly ushered them inside so that they didn’t draw too much attention to themselves. Mrs. Weasley told her children the destination and they all took a handful of floo powder and used the floo to get home and when they were all home, Molly apparated to the grounds behind them. 

    “Your mother is letting you stay with us until she comes home. Of course you can see Lucius, we aren’t going to keep you away from your father or anything. That would be silly,” Bella walked into the kitchen and pulled out a plate of soft biscuits with equally as soft frosting on the biscuit’ faces, these were a little more cheery and depicted flowers, and though they were very beautiful, all the flowers were poisonous. Foxglove, Belladonna, Monkshood, Angel’s Trumpet and Mountain Laurel were expertly painted in frosting, they looked more like a Monet painting than something realistic but they were very recognizable and Harry took one with Belladonna as it was purple and he took a bite. They were soft, like a good biscuit was supposed to be, unless they should be hard and crunchy, then they were good like that. Really, all biscuits were good biscuits and Bella’s were the best he had ever had. 

    “Alright. Thank you for letting me stay,” Bella cackled maniacally as if she had heard the funniest thing in the world  and looked down at Draco. 

    “You’re welcome. I suppose. You are a Black too, you don’t have to thank me for taking you in for a bit. You are my nephew not some stranger,” She sat down next to Harry and twirled her hair around her fingers, staring off at nothing. “Marvolo will be home later, he is at an emergency meeting. Did you open the chamber?” 

    “Oh! I forgot! We were supposed to get Tonia into the chamber, we’ve been so busy. It was the holidays before we even had time to breathe, do you think Severus could get Tonia into the chamber?” Harry didn’t know how he had forgotten something so extreme, he had been raising Tonia with the intention to release her into the school so that Antonio had a friend because he was bound to be lonely. “Bipsy!” Bipsy popped into the room and looked around, terrified of these unfamiliar surroundings. 

     “Master be calling for Bipsy,” she squeaked when Bella turned to stare at her. 

     “Yes, Can you take someone into the chamber, not the house area but the big outside area where the big snake lives?” Harry called for Tonia to come to the kitchen in parseltongue and he heard a groan, or a reptilian equivalent to a groan, and then she slithered into the room, right between Bipsy’s feet. Bipsy squealed and jumped up, moving away from the basilisk and pressing herself against the wall. “Are you sure you can do this. If you’re too scared that’s alright, you just have to tell me.” 

    “B-Bipsy be f-fine Master Slytherin, sir. Bispy takes the big snake to the flooded chamber?” 

    “Yes please,” he looked down at Tonia who had her chin on his knee. “ _ Bipsy, this house elf, will take you to the Chamber of Secrets. Antonio is there, he will be able to keep you company until we can join you after the holidays, alright? _ ” 

    “ _ Whatever you say. I want a big, fat rat for this though. If it’s cold I will be very cross with you, hatchling _ .” Tonia slithered towards Bipsy and reared up and stared at the house elf who Tonia could probably swallow right there. Bipsy picked up Tonia, or the portion of Tonia that she could lift and carry before she popped out of the room. Bella looked at where Bipsy had just been standing. Harry sighed and hoped that Tonia wouldn’t be too angry with him for just throwing her into the chamber without an introduction or anything but Tonia was strong, she could handle herself (even against the giant basilisk) if she needed to. He was also worried about Bipsy, she seemed terrified of the basilisks, or in her words the ‘big snakes’. 

    “Where did you get another house elf?” Bella finally asked before picking up a biscuit and taking a bite of it. She looked down at it and frowned, it was missing something but so was she. She laughed internally at herself. Merlin, she was funny, if only others could recognize her amazing humor (or she felt it was okay to joke aloud). 

    “She was in the chamber. Her mother died a while ago. She’s still a little baby. Ginny likes to go down and spend time with her, I think Bipsy likes the company. It must be lonely down there. I wonder if we can have her leave the chamber sometimes and socialize with other house elves. Do you think Kreacher would be a good influence on her?” 

    “I think Tilly would be better for her, if she is young and anxious. You know Kreacher is a little…  _ eccentric _ and we don’t want her to feel scared,” Bella finished the cookie in her hand and brushed any crumbs off of her and then dusted off her hands before standing up. “Now, I’m going to go write a letter to Mrs. Parkinson, Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Bulstrode to see when an acceptable time to take the girls out shopping. I trust you to behave. Also, Sorm is refusing to leave the basement because of your little surprise that has grown pretty big. He’s in your room.” 

    Harry nodded, “Alright. Okay, let’s go to the library, Sorm can stay down in the basement if he wants, he should be getting along with the others not isolating himself, but I don’t want to upset him anymore,” Harry and Draco followed behind Bella who walked into the library to grab some clean parchment and a quill before going to her room to write the letters. Harry rested on the lounge chair and propped his head up on his elbow. Draco sat in the chair across from him and looked at the coffee table and the book titles of the books that lay there. He shuffled the books around, moving and rearranging the stacks of literature. Harry watched contently until he finally let his face hit the chair and he rubbed his cheek against the fabric, turning and closing his eyes. 

     “It seems someone has been reading up on vampires,” Draco wasn’t consciously speaking and he hadn’t even realized he had said anything and was shocked when Harry replied. 

    “Father’s probably trying to find something to help Severus. He’s been so tired recently and he’s definitely been looking it… do you think he’s going to leave again?” Draco lifted his head from the books he was rearranging and looked at Harry who had been fine a moment ago, but now his lip quivered and Draco stood up and got on the lounge with him and wrapped an arm around him. Harry turned in towards Draco. “I should be talking with him more, what if he thinks I don’t love him anymore. I don’t want him to leave me again and if he does then it’s all my fault because I’ve neglected him.” 

    “He’s old, he doesn’t have to have a reason, and if he did then you definitely wouldn’t be the reason for him leaving. Plus, he wouldn’t leave you, you’re his child, and if you’ve read anything on vampires then they’re a little like werewolves as they have group units. You’re definitely a part of that unit,” Harry sighed into Draco’s chest and Draco ran his fingers through Harry’s hair soothingly. He wondered if Harry would always be this…  _ temperamental _ . He was fine one second and then at the drop of a hat he wasn’t so ‘fine’ anymore. He didn’t want the holidays to be like they had been the previous year. Partly because he didn’t want to be so scared and worried again and partly because it wasn’t fair for anyone to be hurting so much. Harry had seen a mind healer over the summer, very few times. It wasn’t anything, but Harry hadn’t liked him, in fact he (almost violently) refused to see him again and then shot down the idea despite the offerings and even when his father took up his ‘Dark Lord, you will listen to Me’ tone, Harry didn’t even give it any thought before defying him. Draco thought it was at least a step in the right direction. Old Harry would never have done anything to defy or anger anyone purposely in fear of losing them, so he would take anything, hide anything wrong, just so he didn’t make anybody upset. However, it had been one time, and it hadn’t happened since. Perhaps the mind healer was just a prat and Harry really couldn’t tolerate him. 

    “I wish we could lay in my bed, but I have a present in my room for you,” and once again Harry was different, not so sad, not nearly crying but almost happy. He didn’t smile but there was playfulness in his words, a playfulness that he had been completely devoid of just a few seconds prior. Draco looked down at his friend and pulled him to his chest. Harry threw a leg over Draco’s waist and Draco pushed one of his legs between Harry’s. They were quite literally a tangle of limbs. 

    “What kind of present? I hope my present to you is acceptable,” Draco just smiled, because if he didn’t then what would Harry think? He would probably feel rejected, it wasn’t the first time. They spent most of their time together. If they weren’t in classes then they were in the chamber and if they weren’t in the chamber then they were in one of their trunk compartments either cuddling or reading, or sometimes they did both. If Harry didn’t know he was smart then he would have likely been down on himself, but he was smart, and everyone let him know that and so was Draco, but his compliments were often hidden in a lot of fancy words and in impassive masks that only the Malfoys could understand and see through (although there were a few who were getting better at noticing small details to see what they were really feeling). 

    “What did you get me? I have to know!” 

    “You’ll see it when I give it to you on boxing day,” Draco smirked smugly, yes, he was very smug. Harry sighed again and just patted his hand on Draco’s chest before letting his fingers stay against his chest, over his sternum. Perhaps it was a bit gory, but Harry wanted to push his fingers into Draco’s chest and feel his heart, he wanted to feel his essence around him, his heart beating in his hands. He stared at Draco’s chest and moved his fingers around before he reached down and slid his hands over Draco’s hips and then slid his hand up under his shirt. Draco shivered and reached down to stop Harry’s hand. “That’s not,” Draco took quick breaths as Harry’s fingers fluttered above his skin. He was twelve but he knew things, he wasn’t a baby and he was smart, very clever and he had a knack for listening into everything when nobody else cared or when his victims didn’t think anyone could hear/listen to them. “ _ Decent _ ,” he decided on finally. 

    “Why not?”    
    “Because it isn’t,” he swallowed a lump in his throat and pushed Harry’s hand away and out from under his shirt. Harry drew his hand back up and held it to his chest as if it was wounded. Draco sat up and then Harry reached out for him. 

    “No, don’t leave me!” Harry gripped Draco’s wrist and a bit of his shirt. 

    “I wasn’t going to leave you. I will never leave you. I was just getting up to look at the other books. Most are on vampires, like I said, but there was one about obscure rituals, which means there is probably more somewhere in the mess,” Harry released Draco’s wrist and watched as Draco walked around the table and took his seat once again before shuffling books around. Finally he picked one out of the several piles and opened it up. This one was interesting and not even in English, well it was English but it was Olde English and that was basically a different language. 

    “What does it say?” Harry asked after minutes of silence only disturbed by the distortion in the air every time a page was turned. Draco turned the page back and then stretched his arms up as he had his arms cocked out at an awkward angle while reading for the few minutes he was allotted. He let out a yawn for good measure but reached down to cover his mouth. 

    “It’s really on creature anomalies. Like your father for example. Gorgons are typically female, and males have different traits. The same goes for Veela, Furies, Valkyries for being female rather than male. Then there are some who are typically male and have odd female forms, this includes minotaurs, cyclops and centaurs, although Jupiter isn’t very weird and she’s a centaur. I think it’s more about how rare the opposite sex is in those races. Did you know that centaurs are a little like seahorses as males can carry children without the use of potions and spells. It’s just natural and they have to cut them open to retrieve the children but it’s so common that it’s normal. If a male wizard was walking around with a child in them, then they would be…” Draco stopped talking as he realized that either he or Harry would eventually have children. He frowned, “... er, nevermind, but it does say that male gorgons weren’t the warriors or fighters in the gorgon race, they were like the children raisers, housewives basically, while the few females were warriors and they ruled over their societies. Although their numbers were very small, they were fierce and extremely territorial like veela or werewolves. The page with that on it was marked so I didn’t really read that far since it’s in the back of the book.” 

    “I wonder why father was reading that. I do hope that mother, your mother and father and that other guy are interesting creatures. Useful, helpful, they will probably be these amazing, radiant creatures. Your father is probably a light elf like you and your mother… well I don’t know but she would be the same as my mother since they are sisters. What sort of races are typically born as three? There are seers, especially women are born in groups of threes to a family, just like the Norns, and furies I think come in packs of threes as well as gorgons. Wouldn’t it be amazing if our mothers were gorgons like my father? They they would be warriors, not that they aren’t warriors now, but they would be mystical warriors,” Harry got up on his feet. “They would come out victorious and with pride. Valor! Honor! Victory after victory, slay thou enemy and bleed them at thy feet!” Harry rushed to Draco’s side. “That would be so amazing, wouldn’t it?” 

    “It would be…” Draco stared at Harry who was huffing breath as he hadn’t taken any breath during his little rant. Draco turned back to the book and then pushed it to the side before grabbing another one he had piled on the top. He handed it to Harry. “This one is on vampires. I only read the title, but it looked the best for depressed vampire issues,” Harry plucked the book from Draco’s hands and sat up on his knees over the table. He cleared off a section so he could rest the book down while he read. Draco picked up the book he had been reading and flipped it open, trying to remember what page he had been on. They continued to read in silence, occasionally reading aloud what their books said to each other and then giving their opinions. Draco ended up asleep on the chair with the book on his chest, his legs thrown over the arm of the chair and Harry was dead on his knees as he was wobbling, trying to finish the rest of the page. He eventually stood up and pulled his wand out of his pocket to levitate Draco. He moved Draco up the stairs, still with the book on his chest, and to the guest room where he let Draco rest under the covers. Harry thought about going to his own room. To play with Tyr, but he knew that Tyr would want to play rough and tumble around and he didn’t have the kind of energy. He slid under the covers with Draco. This was also better because he loved sleeping with Draco, especially when they would shift around to hold each other during the night and early morning. That was the best to wake up pleasantly pressed against Draco’s chest or to have Draco pressed against his chest. They were both sound asleep by the time Marvolo came home and he would have been loud if he hadn’t been so conscious of the boys being home and asleep. Marvolo, as calmly as he could, walked up the stairs and looked for his son and his son’s contracted. He found them in the guest room and he warded the room and placed silencing spells over the area before he let his rage go. 

    “Mipsy!” He shouted as the house elf popped up behind him and walked along with his brutal pace down the stairs. “Bring me Greyback and Rosier. The werewolf and well, he’s blonde. They should be at Riddle Manor and if they aren’t then they will be in so much pain when I find them!” Mipsy nodded and popped out. Voldemort shouted and the bookshelves in the library rattled before he hunched over the writing desk and he calmed himself. He wanted to hurt things, he wanted to hurt people, he wanted to kill somebody and he might. Mipsy popped into the room with Rosier and the Dark Lord turned around and cast the Cruciatus on his immediately. After effects be damned. Rosier writhed on the floor in pain and he held back his screams, biting into his lip as his body twitched and convulsed with all the misfirings and tearing sensations. He couldn’t hold back and started screaming. Marvolo released him and picked him up, throwing him onto the chair and putting his hands on the back of the chair and looking down at him. “What shall I do with you, hmm? You allowed the old man our plans. He has the names and contracts of all of our allies, I was informed earlier today by my spy. Last night they had a meeting and the aurors have been sent to find you and all of our partners in this!” Voldemort turned away and clenched his wand in his hand. He was above this, he could calm himself down. He turned and without another thought he shot the killing curse at Rosier and he was dead just like that. Marvolo took a deep breath and lifted Rosier’s arm up, pushing back the sleeve. He called some of his others to clean up the mess and more importantly he would call them to go warn their allies who had been outed and were now under attack due to their ‘alliance’ and their ‘betrayal’ to the British Ministry which was ridiculous because every single one of their allies were being persecuted relentlessly by the Ministry and Dumbledore, the idiot who passed such cruel laws in an attempt to restrict ‘dark’ magic. His less common death eaters arrived and he sent one away with the body before sending the others to leave and warn everyone they knew who knew about their order and cause. He summoned Lucius, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan, Yaxley, Crabbe Snr. and Parkinson to go and warn their allies of the impending attack and offer their sincerest apologies as well as help relocating their people due to the failure of someone he shouldn’t have given such an important task. Bella didn’t have to be summoned, she had gotten her robes on and ran into the library. 

    “What’s wrong?” 

    “The Ministry, Dumbledore, he has our allies, he is sending aurors to arrest and kill them. I need you to warn the Sang d’Autrefois vampire clan. If they need a place to stay then they are welcome to any of my properties and I hope that you would offer any of the Black land to those who are in need. It is our fault that they are in danger.” 

    “Who failed you, my Lord?” 

    “Just because I know you, I’ll let that question slip by, but it was Evan. Rosier. That fool! And Fenrir, that God forsaken werewolf! He’s more trouble than he’s worth, I’m going to dispose of him as soon as he is located and we will just need to recruit a better, more reliable wolf,” Voldemort saw Bella wave her wand in front of her face and then there was a black mask with sterling silver designs along with emeralds and diamonds to represent her status as an Inner Circle and Higher Ranked death eater. She pulled her cloak up over her hair and force-apparated herself out of the property and to the human keepers of the vampires she needed to warn. They were in a rather busy location, some of them at least, and she would have to warn the royal family that they were also in danger, but she needed to have the keepers tell her where they were first. Rodolphus and Rabastan entered the room and Voldemort sent them to the resident dark witches and prominent seers, they weren’t even English, they were from the United States. They had been forced out of their homes and he had taken them in. Then he had the coven of veela that he had acquired through some of the Bulgarian Ministry officials who believed in him and wished only for him to succeed, great people really. The twins disapparated once off the property and through the floo Yaxley, Severus and Narcissa came through and they ran to where the dark energy pulsated viciously, the library. 

    “My Lord,” Yaxley started and Narcissa nodded her head before Severus did the same. 

   “Yaxley, I need you to go to the Shadow Dome please and warn them all to stay inside their shadows. They have been targeted by the Ministry and the Order. It is our fault and we must help them to the best of our ability even if that means we have to start war once again with physical violence opposed to political attacks,” Yaxley put his mask on and flooed out of the house. 

    “What’s wrong? Who let that information loose?” Narcissa asked before adding, “How can I help?” 

    “You can stay here and watch the boys, you too Severus. I don’t want either of you in danger, you work at Hogwarts and are not among my known death eaters such as Yaxley and Bellatrix. I’m worried that they boys will wake up due to all the energy and I don’t want them in here, understand? They need to stay upstairs, away from all of this. They don’t need to know anything about this, they are still too young to deal with war.” 

    “Yes, my Lord,” Narcissa curtseyed and left the room. Severus walked closer to Marvolo and reached out. Marvolo grabbed his wrist. 

    “You look terrible, what’s wrong?” Marvolo asked and Severus sighed. 

    “I think you’re more important right now. Are you sure you do not need me?” 

    “No, I need you to stay here and protect Hadrian and Draco. If things get too bad up here then take them into the dungeons and let them sleep in the dueling room. We have already lost one of our supposedly loyal followers and I know that there are more that would just love to sell us out. Once everyone is safe I will call a full meeting, which you and Narcissa will not attend but I will give you all the information we go over. We will be in Slytherin Castle but the children still do not leave the duelling room or the upper floors. There may be death eaters wondering around and while I dislike the idea of the outer circles knowing where I live, I may have to bring them here… if not for anything worthwhile then for punishment. I will try to keep everything at the Castle,” Marvolo let go of Severus’ wrist and touched his face. He really looked terrible and Marvolo had a pang of guilt that it was his fault somehow. 

    “As you wish, my Lord,” Marvolo pulled Severus forward and kissed him as softly as he could without exploding with all the rage he felt. He sent him off and although Severus didn’t like being dismissed in such a way, he left the library and made his way upstairs. Narcissa had already checked Hadrian’s room as she was nearly pounced on by a giant wolf-like thing. Severus knew to avoid the room as the warg was probably too big to keep in the bathroom so he was likely out in the room. Of course he went to the guest room and he found the door cracked and Narcissa waiting for him. She had pulled a small book from her cloak and had called Dobby for tea. Severus conjured a seat and shut the door as softly as he could. The boys stirred and both adults looked nervous. This wasn’t what they wanted to happen upon their return home for the holidays. They could only hope for the best. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that the updates aren't too far apart and that nobody is losing interest. If you would like to see something, or have a cool idea, you can tell me and I'll try to work with it. I enjoy writing this, but I also enjoy knowing that other people enjoy reading this. 
> 
> Enjoy c:

    The Dark Lord swept in front of all of his followers. There were gaps and he knew who he had to dispose of, and they would need to die quickly unless they had a damned good excuse to not join them. He glowered at everyone, Bellatrix twisting impatiently, her dress flowing out around her and hitting Lucius in the shins every twist she made. Lucius finally put his hand on her shoulder to remind her to stay still because it was very annoying. She looked forward before turning, trying to avoid hitting Lucius with her dress, to look at all the others. She too saw the spaces and gaps. One of them was Igor Karkaroff and the other was the guest place of Fenrir and while two of his six Alpha wolves were there, the others were absent. That was never a good sign. 

    “Obviously there is something very wrong if I have called all of you at the same time,” he started, amplifying his voice to reach everyone in the large dining hall of Slytherin Castle. “Tonight we had a breach of loyalty, of care, a lapse of judgement and that is not acceptable. This isn’t a game we are playing, we are not flipping sickles into cups, we are fighting a war. Perhaps I haven’t made it clear enough that I demand your loyalty and if you came into this you are now forced to be loyal and those who are not, those who know too much, will be exterminated. I feel I have been too lax in my judgement. Was it because I regained sanity? Have I done something to convince you all that I am a kind man, because I assure you, I am not and will not be kind to most of you. You don’t deserve my kindness and you aren’t worthy of it either.” He was spitting by the end of his words. He lowered his wand and the wards flared to life as someone was entering them, from the likes of it a lot of people. They weren’t aurors either, they didn’t have the numbers to be aurors. With her brand new mask, Molly Weasley’s eyes shone as she stood beside Bellatrix. She hadn’t been marked, but that didn’t make her any less cared for, but he still didn’t trust her fully, but she was proving to have really changed and he kept her busy every night he knew of an Order meeting and she didn’t seem displeased with not attending. Marvolo waved his death eaters to the doors and then there was the sound of crashing vases. Of course, those bastards would go for the precious artifacts of his forefathers and his ancestors, namely Slytherin. This location could have only been revealed by a death eater, so either Rosier had been a very good liar or he had several people within his ranks who had turned on him. He would know when people started fighting who was on whose side. Through the double doors the Order members rushed into the room, spells flying. They managed to stun the first two death eaters. Thankfully they hadn’t killed them, they were young and learning. Then they took down one of the werewolves. That was Arthur Weasley who had taken Erik down and Marvolo was quick to have another younger death eater take him out of harm’s way as he paced through the crowd. He say many of his own death eaters fighting each other and he had stunned all the pairs who were fighting. Only three pairs, the others were all fighting for him. The Order members didn’t wear masks and neither did marvolo. Bellatrix was frozen in place as Sirius joined in on the fight. His pet wasn’t with him, where was the wolf? Sirius aimed for her and she shot him back before he could hurt her. What was worse, was that she had loved him when they were younger, they had been close, and here they were, fighting each other. 

    Alastor had taken down a few death eaters, and by taken down, he had slaughtered them, but in all of his good graces and with all of his luck, Bellatrix and Rodolphus were better than him and they circled him until his eye couldn’t tell what was what and then they attacked. Bella shot the first curse at him and he took it pretty well, and then Rodolphus kicked him down onto his knees and then pushed him onto his stomach. He struggled under the curse. He was already crazy, but this would definitely seal his fate. He would be reduced to nothing, hardly any motor functions much less conscious thought. The wounded were being taken by the elder death eaters and the elder were returning after they were deposited at points that their fellow followers could be healed. There weren’t many Order members, but they were stronger than they had been and many of his death eaters had gotten relaxed and had stopped practicing and now it was showing. Marvolo finally walked up to the front lines and shot his own curses out. He had killed one, but he didn’t see who it was, just that they fell as soon as a blast of green hit them in the chest. Molly had stunned Sirius who had tried to go after one of her children, William, and that was not acceptable. She sent him flying back and paralyzed before she gathered William and pushed him behind her. Charlie went to her as well and they were like a trio of divine soldiers, they were fighting more with passion that Marvolo hadn’t seen and he couldn’t see very much because he was now fighting with some of the aurors that were recruited and in the Order, of course they weren’t official, the Order, so none of this was too important and if they died then they would blame him anyway, so he went for the killing shots, however he was smart enough to tell when he needed to use defensive spells rather than offensive spells and when to shoot out killing curses and when to send out a stunner or a petrifying charm. However what he hadn’t expected was for the Order to retreat, and he chased them out of his home. How dare they come to his castle and then run away with their tails between their legs. They had left those that weren’t able to leave themselves and that made them so much less appealing and much more obvious about their ingenuine care for their people. Bellatrix grabbed Sirius by the collar and kicked his wand from his hand before taking him to the dungeons while Molly helped Rodolphus and Rabastan take the old auror down to the dungeon as well. Some of the younger death eaters, or those that weren’t as trusted, shuffled around awkwardly, unsure of what to do now that the action was over. He went to them and dismissed the groups of untrusted or as he had put it earlier, his unworthy, followers. The few that he had stunned were carted to the dungeons as well. Although he hadn’t that much space as he wasn’t used to keeping prisoners, he had just killed them and the castle hadn’t a dungeon when he had gotten in, or at least not a functioning one. He had Lucius take some of the accused death eaters to the dungeons at Malfoy Manor and at Grimmauld Place. They also took Sirius to Grimmauld Place, because Bella had asked so kindly to repay him for this ridiculous stunt. 

    Narcissa ran downstairs when the wards alerted her of people entering the building and she helped many death eaters into the sitting area. She transfigured things into cots and levitated the injured onto them and checking their pulse before casting spells to either ensure that they had passed or to check their vitals. Severus was sitting in the guest room. Hadrian had woken up and had in turn woken Draco up. They both sat on the bed, staring at Severus who stared back at them. Narcissa had been talking soothingly to them, and Severus was sure she was doing it for all four of them, but she had to leave to deal with whoever came into the house. Why she didn’t want Severus leaving the children was beyond him because he was a vampire and they were rather hard to kill but if she had died then what would he have done? What could he have said? Harry crawled off the bed and padded his way over to Severus before crawling on top of him and pressing his face into Severus’ neck, wrapping his arms around his neck and holding onto him. Draco looked nervous and Severus wrapped his arms around Harry who tightened his grip on his other father. 

    “What’s going on?” Hadrian finally asked, his voice cracking out of fear. He had never felt this scared, not even when there was a troll after him, perhaps it was when Severus had left over the summer holiday that he felt something similar but he felt even worse at that moment. 

    “Nothing you need to worry about,” Severus replied as coolly as he could but Harry started crying on him, his tears making his neck sticky. 

    “Is everyone going to be okay?” 

    “I hope so,” Severus lifted Harry up and carried him back to bed. Narcissa entered the room.  

    “I need potions, blood replenishers, basic healing tonics, I’ve stabilized all that I can. Draco, keep Hadrian in this room and if you get scared one of us will escort you to the dueling room and set up a bed for you. Try to go back to sleep. Everything will be fine,” Narcissa smiled at them and Draco knew his mother was scared, even though she wasn’t showing it. Severus wasn’t as easy to read, at least not for Draco to read but Harry wouldn’t let go of him. Severus pried Harry off of him. 

   “I’ll be right back. Let me help these people and then I will be back here with you. I will be as quick as I can,” he kissed Harry’s forehead and Harry curled up and continued to cry. What was happening? Why were people hurt downstairs? Why did Severus have to leave? Why was he here? It must have been very important if he was there, he should have been at the school. Narcissa and Severus left the room and Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him up. Draco was sitting up against the headboard and he pulled Harry into his lap and stroked his hair and rubbed his back like his mother would have done if he was as scared and sad. 

    “What if something happens?” Harry finally asked, he looked up at Draco who looked down at him and pulled him up so he could push their foreheads together. Harry choked on a sob and closed his eyes, tears being forced from his eyes as his eyelids closed. Then there were footsteps up the stairs and Draco had his wand out and aimed at the door. Harry hadn’t noticed but as he looked up at Draco, who was holding him with one hand and ready to fight with the other, that their glamours had fallen. Something must have disturbed their magic enough to stop them as they were almost always on unless they consciously removed them. The door opened and Draco shot a curse out, which nearly caught Bella’s hair on fire. Bella put the spell out and in the process got the door and the carpet sopping wet before she made her way to the bed. She had a little blood on her but she sat down on the bed and pulled her nephew and son to her. 

    “Are you okay? Nothing befell you did it?” She stroked Draco’s hair and pressed a soft kiss to the side of his head. 

    “We’re fine. Sorry that I almost caught you on fire,” Draco let Harry go as he wiggled away and latched onto Bella who held him. There was no jealousy for the affection that Draco wasn’t receiving, but he wanted to be the one that Harry clung onto, the one he depended on, because he would always be there, at least he thought he would always be there for him and he hoped that it was the truth. 

    “It’s fine. That was very nice spell work, you almost got me, but I’ve got years of experience on you, on both of you,” She smiled and both boys wondered how she could smile at a time like this but she was always smiling, even when she probably shouldn’t, like when Sorm ate a cat when he got outside and he had to have the cat removed from his stomach or else he would burst, Bella had thought it was so funny but everyone else was worried. She just thought differently, or perhaps she had been through so many bad things that nothing could compare to that and so she was just trying to live as light as possible. 

    “Is father alright? Did you get hurt?” Harry asked, leaning up and pressing his head against Bella’s shoulder. 

    “He is fine. Almost all of us made it out alive. Some of the younger fell,” she sighed but there was anger in that sigh, anger at the people that caused innocent people’s lives. “But most of us are fine. You are to stay up here, I came to make sure you were okay. I just came back and Cissy and Sev are busy trying to heal people. I will keep you company until they return and then I have to go and assess some of the damage with your father.” 

    “I love you,” Harry whispered into Bella’s clothed shoulder. She closed her eyes and nodded. 

    “I love you too. I love both of you,” Harry was soothed back to sleep and Bella lay him down and covered him up. She looked at Draco. “You keep him safe, somebody will come up to keep an eye on you soon, but I should be leaving to help clean up and whatnot. I have a little bit of torturing to do,” she laughed but kept it quiet so she didn’t wake Harry up. She leaned over and kissed Draco’s cheek. 

    “I’ll always keep him safe. It’s almost an insult that you assumed I wouldn’t,” Bella would have laughed again but she was cutting it close and she didn’t want to wake Harry up. She nodded and got off the bed and walked out, closing the door as quietly as she could and walked down the stairs. Draco could hear, but that was only because the wards and the silencing spell had fallen as soon as Severus and Narcissa left as a defense to keep the boys safe and aware if they were in need to defend themselves. Marvolo knew his death eaters, they were all kept and many of them spoke to him on a regular basis, but he didn’t have time to keep track of everyone. Apparently he was wrong, and therefore he only knew of a few he could truly trust and he didn’t like the idea of all those death eaters, which he was unsure of, in his house so close to the people he cared about. 

 

    The Order members returned to the school in pain most of them apparated to Sirius’ cottage and then used to floo to get to Hogwarts. Nymphadora was enraged. She didn’t think it was very fair to go up against so many people but what was really wrong was attacking all of the unsuspecting people. She had morals, and she was wondering if she had chosen the right path. Her mother and father had never been wrong, they would never do anything to hurt her intentionally but maybe they didn’t have all the information. Her father limped in behind her. He had gotten cut with a  _ diffindo _ and it had cut him rather deep, deeper than it should have, and he was in pain. He was a mind healer so he had medical training, but he didn’t have any potions and it was hard to heal something like this by yourself. Tonks helped him sit down and then she used her knowledge of healing spells to heal him to the best of her ability. Arthur Weasley walked in, he was livid, beyond what Tonks was feeling, in fact he was sure he saw Molly, he had seen her red hair and the two who flanked her had to be their children! What kind of woman had he married? He had let raise his children? He threw himself into a chair and others filled out the table. Albus came into the room and looked at them all. He wasn’t about to offer a lemon drop but he had asked the house elves to bring up drinks and bandages along with potions. Poppy was there so she knew the infirmary enough to help heal anybody who needed it. Poppy was there, the two Tonks, Weasley, Doge, Fletcher, Podmore, Jones and Aberforth were all there, but they were missing Sirius and Remus hadn’t been present for any recent Order meetings, likely angry that Dumbledore accused him of tainting Sirius and instead of shrugging it off like Sirius did, he took it to heart. He was always so sensitive. Moody was also missing. Shacklebolt had gone with the aurors in search of the allies of creatures on the side of Tom. 

    “Is everyone alright? If you need medical attention, Poppy will assist you in healing,” Albus started and Ted waved off Poppy who was worried about him. Poppy wrapped a bandage around Arthur’s head as he fumed. 

    “I saw Molly! I was sure it was her! Who is watching over my children while she is out being a death eater and killing people?” He slammed his fist into the table before rubbing his temples. He was so lost, everything was so different, what had happened? Albus nodded and took this information and stored it along with the rest of the information he gathered, in his mind behind several occlumency barriers. 

    “I’m sure your children are fine. We will find a way to get them back, she is a death eater now, she has betrayed us, and the children are not safe with her,” Albus agreed before he looked to the two empty seats that should have had been filled, but as he looked around the room there were several other members that had been there earlier but were gone. There had been twenty-two and now there wasn’t nearly that many. Most of his Order were dueling masters or aurors, how could he be defeated unless it was simply an overwhelming number of members that they had been attacked by? “So he was really at Slytherin Castle?” It was a rhetorical question, but members nodded and looked around at each other. 

    “He had a huge amount of death eaters with him,” Doge finally said. 

    “I see… perhaps he had been informed of our attack or he was meeting in regards to the plans and ally list we had gotten along with directions and addresses, of course, where would we be at without out spies?” He was referring to Todd, Jameson and Weiss who had gone in and infiltrated the ranks. However they weren’t nearly high enough in the ranks as he needed them to be and he wasn’t sure they would be, and if they were as stupid as he suspected, they were likely caught tonight if Tom was getting better, which is seemed he was. “Anyone who needs a place to stay for the night or is injured may stay here, you will be fed and taken care of. You have done excellent, please remember, we will win this, justice is always victorious.” 

    Many of the members left but a few stayed like Poppy, Aberforth, Fletcher and Doge stayed back and Dumbledore let some of them sleep in the infirmary but Aberforth stayed to report on what had been happening in his bar, the Hog’s Head. Nothing too remarkable but there has been rumors of a vampire being seen at night, but nobody knows for sure because the vampire never leaves any evidence, but a few people disappeared and it was clear that the animals were frightened around Hogsmeade and really anywhere in the forest, more so than usual. It could have also been a werewolf, or really any other race, but people had reported of seeing a flash of darkness, which usually meant a vampire was running, they moved so fast, too fast for human eyes to register or for minds to comprehend. Aberforth was dismissed and Albus went up to his office, blowing out the candles in the meeting room on the same floor as his office. He went up to his paperwork and waited for a report from the Ministry from Shacklebolt on what happened at the raids of the allies and creatures that were clearly breaking the laws put in place for them. To keep the rest of the wizarding population safe, for the greater good. The life of many outweighs the life of one and the comfort of a few outweighs that of a vast amount of people. Creatures couldn’t/shouldn’t even be considered people in Dumbledore’s eyes. They are able to do horrible things, inhumanly evil things. 

    He sat at his desk and fed Fawkes from a jar on his desk. The phoenix trilled and nuzzled against his hands. He had a phoenix, he couldn’t be in the wrong, he was innocent, he was the Light, he was justice and goodness. Albus Dumbledore was doing the  _ right _ thing, for  _ the greater good _ . He should be thanked, not persecuted or questioned, he was right. He was always right. He was the defender, he had fought the last Dark Lord and he would fight this one with the help of Harry Potter or not. Tom must be defeated before he ruined anymore of his plans. 

 

    It had been two days since the attacks, and Marvolo hadn’t left his room for more than three minutes at a time and if he left for longer he used the floo to attend meetings and argue with others. Harry missed him. He hoped he could be back by Christmas. There wasn’t a single part of Harry that felt guilty for wanting Marvolo either because children wanted their parents, it was natural, he just hoped that he wouldn’t be forgotten, that he was too insignificant to be worthy of his attention anymore. Harry would likely never stop feeling like he was insignificant, it was ingrained in him, he honestly believed he was worthless with every fibre of his being. Harry was sitting in the kitchen, and Draco was next to him. They had been eating biscuits and candy, or that’s what Harry had been eating. Draco was more of, well, he didn’t seem to enjoy candy as much so he didn’t eat much of it, but Kreacher always made him whatever he asked for so it wasn’t like he was starving. Bella had been strangely occupied as well, and with their enhanced ears, they could hear what sounded to be screams, and she had mentioned torturing someone, but not even Harry felt bad for whoever had hurt them. Whoever it was must have deserved it because his mother and father were the nicest people beside Severus, the Malfoys and even Mrs. Weasley. Narcissa had been gone, she had to finish up some things at the school originally but the headmaster had told her everything was fine without her and then insisted that she just relax for the holidays. Of course she felt like something was wrong but she also had a Yule Ball to plan and prepare for. 

    “Let’s go to the Black Family Manor today, I would like to explore it a little bit more, maybe we could find some useful things,” Harry had just finished three chocolate frogs and he had more chocolate on his face and hands than he had actually eaten, or at least it appeared that way. Draco got a washcloth from the sink and rinsed it in warm water before jumping on Harry and washing his face and hands. He threw the washcloth and watched as it slapped against the window and slid into the sink. He felt very good about himself in that moment. “You just attacked me. How did you know I wasn’t going to eat more and get all dirty again?” 

    “If you get dirty again, I will just clean you again,” Draco sat back down in his seat and crossed his arms, kicking under the table and trying to balance on the back legs of the chair. His foot was hooked under the table so he didn’t fall but it gave the impression that he was balancing and he probably could do it with a little bit of magic. “And we definitely can go to the Black Family Manor. Do we get to cuddle under the covers and read again? Drink some hot chocolate, well, maybe I’ll have tea, but you get the idea.” 

    “Sure, but I still want to raid the dungeons, if there is a dungeon, but there probably is one, all the old manors have dungeons,” Harry stood up and ran up the stairs. He had Kreacher feed Tyr and then he grabbed his wand from the guest room, where he had been staying with Draco. He hadn’t even let Draco into his room to get clothes, he couldn’t risk Draco finding out about Tyr and ruining the surprise. All good elves needed a familiar and who better than a warg, not just any warg, but a warg from the same place the Light Elves were from? Draco ran up the stairs and fixed the bed while Harry got his things together and Draco grabbed his wand off the bedside table. They probably shouldn’t leave any room without their wands, but they had forgotten about them in their search for sustenance earlier in the morning. Harry wrote a note and left it on the kitchen table, weighted down by an empty cup before he flooed to the old manor. Draco followed behind him. 

    Bellatrix clicked her tongue as she paced outside of Sirius’ cell like a lion waiting to be let out of (or in this case: into) the cage. Sirius held onto the bars and tried to plead with her but she couldn’t listen to his excuses. He had been babbling since she first came down here a day ago and she hadn’t said a word. She just tortured him in silence, sometimes making keens or clicking her tongue, but never had she spoken to him. She was almost reluctant to speak to him. He wasn’t worth her voice, he wasn’t worth the air it would take to speak to him. He had gone after family, family didn’t do that and she wasn’t going to attack him but she had to in order to defend herself. Finally she broke her silence. 

    “I remember when you were just a baby. I was eight years old when you were born. You were my little baby cousin and now who are you? What are you? Why are you so foolish?” She could hear her anger through her words. It was getting more electric in the room as she spoke. “We are family and no matter how much you hate me, you do  _ not _ attack your family. Did you learn nothing from your mother? Were you too busy with your stupid Gryffindor friends. That was when you stopped speaking with me, when you were eleven and you were sorted into the silly house and you thought yourself better than  _ me _ . Who’s better now, Sirius? Who is in what position. From where I am, you seem to be at a loss here. With no wand, with no friends to save you, where your boyfriend? Does he no longer want to be with someone pathetic like you? Did he realize that he was wasting his time with you?” 

    “Mooney would never leave me!” Sirius cried out. “He’s just hurt and he’ll hurt you if you don’t let me go. If you cared for me so much then why did you join _his_ side. I never wanted to face you, I don’t want to fight you. You’re like my older sister, more of a sibling than Reggie ever was, but you chose to follow You-Know-Who. He’s evil. He kills people… _YOU_ **KILL** PEOPLE!” 

    “And I’ll kill you too,” she squated down to be level to Sirius who was on his knees in the cell. “Where is the headmaster now? Who is going to save you? You are useless, and I’m almost glad that I am ending your suffering, it’s not fair to you that you have to be like this. You’re not who you used to be, you’ve been manipulated so much that you can’t even think for yourself. At least I make my own choices. If I wish to kill someone then I will; if I want to torture people, then I will; if I want to do anything, I do it because I have a choice to do so, and you have nothing. You don’t even have yourself anymore. You’ve lost everything because of some old man that you’ve all blindly follow faithfully, how did he get you on his good side? He bribed you? I know you never go in trouble for all the horrible things you did to Sevie, I know because I was informed, I was told the things that happened, because I had a choice to help or not, and I helped him. I helped him… and I should have helped you but you are too far gone. You… you are a lost cause, and I will see you in the next life, Sirius. Know that I love you, my cousin, I will always love who you were, but never who you’ve let yourself become,” and she pointed her wand at him. A stray tear fell from her eye, and she wiped it away. 

    “Bella, no! Please! Please! Don’t kill me! I love you! Don’t do this!” Sirius shouted, he was crying, there was snot running down his nose and over his lips, his face was red and his eyes were puffy. She sniffled. 

    “My poor, itsy bitsy baby cousin. I’ll see you beyond the veil my precious little Grim,” she closed her eyes and just listened to him beg and plead for a moment and she felt her wand lowering. She stormed out of the dungeon and up into her room. She heard Sirius calling for her the entire time she ran away from him and it hurt her and she wasn’t used to feeling so many emotions, certainly not so painful or intense. She crawled into her bed and pulled her knees up and cried. Just as ugly as Sirius when he cried if not worse. Her curls stuck to her damp cheeks and nose as she sobbed. She couldn’t kill him. She would have been able to kill him four years ago, perhaps even three years ago, but she couldn’t. Not now. She couldn’t kill him, she loved him too much and she missed him, she missed her little cousin and she wanted him back. Only last Yule they were all talking about Hadrian and Draco getting married and then they performed the ritual. They had changed so much within a year and she had enjoyed all the time she got with Sirius, but she had spoke the truth. He really did change at Hogwarts, and he didn’t change for the better. He became mean and defiant, and she was crazy, cruel, sadistic even but she never did was Sirius did. She had hurt the Longbottoms but she had gotten help, it wasn’t all her fault. Was it? 

    She continued to cry until someone knocked on her door. She wiped her tears off her nose, eyes and cheeks and sat up, smoothing out her dress. 

    “Come in,” she called and Severus pushed the door open. He walked in. 

    “What’s wrong?” It was stiff, and awkward, but Severus was a stiff and awkward person. He looked lost, but he also looked like he was trying to be friendly and comforting. “Was it something the mu-- your cousin -- said?” 

    “I can’t kill him,” she sniffled again. “He needs to die, he isn’t right, he’s so much worse than me. Right? Am I not in my right mind? Am I wrong? How can I fix myself, I just want to be fixed!” 

    “You were never broken, Bella,” Severus sat down at the writing desk against the wall and Bella shifted so she could see him. “And you can’t fix what isn’t broken. You are in pain, you have an illness, it doesn’t mean you’re broken, or that you’re wrong and it’s not something that you can control. We all have our demons, yours were forced onto you before you knew how to handle them. That’s all.” 

    “I used to love him, I don’t think I do anymore though. Or maybe I do. He’s so different. He’s so mean, he begged me to spare him and I listened. I’m not who I used to be and I’m not sure if I like it or if I’m okay with it. What if I’m more damaged now than I was before?” 

    “You are,” Severus said before he could catch himself. He sighed and turned his head, thinking of a nice way to put things. He wasn’t a cruel person per se, but he wasn’t very nice either, and he was very blunt just because it was the easiest way to get to the information needed. Why should he spare feelings when people needed to just hear the truth? But that was not the situation here. No. He needed to be kind, Bella, no matter who or what she is, she is fragile and she was hurt, and in pain and she needed to be cared for like a child because she still probably wasn’t very much older than a child, at least she didn’t act like it that often. Perhaps thirteen at the oldest, but she was certainly comically sadistic at some times and that is what made her so fearsome. That and she was completely devoted to the Dark Lord, and she believed everything he believed in, which made them a powerful couple. “What I mean is, you are not ‘fixed’. You never will be,” Severus cleared his throat. Nothing was coming out right? Why did he do this in the first place? He should have just continued on, should have never gotten involved. He wanted to abort this mission, he wanted to leave, but he had committed and now he had to stay and hopefully not damage her anymore in the process. “That doesn’t mean you can’t try to be a ‘better’ person, or whatever that means to you. Just because there is something wrong, or there is something that you have been unfairly burdened with, doesn’t mean it’s completely untreatable. It’s not going to just go away, it never will, but it can get  _ easier _ .” 

    She looked at him, her cheeks were already smooth once again and pale and her hair was still stuck but she wiped it out of her face. Her lips were bitten and her eyes were bloodshot but that was to be expected. 

    “Will you hurt him for me? I can’t do it, but… it’s almost mercy. He is so gone. Is it wrong to want to kill someone? Even if it’s in mercy? I’ve never felt so before, but now I feel like it’s not wrong, but it’s not right either,” Bella was so hurt, and a part of Severus, the part that cared for people other than himself, Marvolo, Draco and Hadrian, was almost forcing him to try and comfort her, but his anxiety easily pushed that idea away, and his sadistic nature, perhaps a little perverse, was thrilled to be offered such a chance. To kill the man, the boy, the  _ mutt _ that had tormented him as a young person, the person who had pushed him into the darkness to begin with, the person who… actually, if none of that had happened, he wouldn’t be who he was today, and he didn’t want to be any different. He liked being who he was, it was just things about himself that he hated, like his inability to believe himself worthy of any sort of affection or the constant fear of not being good enough, of failure even when failure wasn’t possible or was insignificant. Even physical parts of himself like his nose or his eyes, he wished he had beautiful eyes, irises that people would want to look into, but they were cold, and sour like he appeared to be. 

    “If that is what you want, but I also want you to be sure. You cannot hate me if I kill him. I am rather  _ fond _ of you after all.” 

    “Oh, Sevie…” she smiled and stood up. “Let’s go down now, I killed someone during the attack, but  _ he’s _ like a little brother, the brother I never had.” 

    “It is understandable,” Bella pulled Severus to his feet and hooked her arm around his elbow and bumped her hip into him as a silent command for him to play along. He sighed and cocked out his elbow and she marched with him down to the dungeon and Severus could smell the fresh blood that leaked from the wounds of the few prisoners in the cells and he could smell Sirius. Even as a starving, addicted vampire, he didn’t want to drink his blood. He would rather let himself die. That is how much he hated Sirius Orion Black. 

    “Sirius,” Bella said finally as she moved to stand in front of his cell. Sirius glared and hissed at Severus as well as in pain when he moved. He was in great pain. 

    “Hello Snivellus, did my dear cousin bring you to kill me because she’s too  _ weak _ to do it? I would rather kill myself then let you kill me you bastard!” Sirius lifted himself up, he was obviously hurt. There was a wound to his side and he had been put under many curses so he was shaking with the after effects of such dark curses. Severus frowned. Even in pain, near death, the man had the gall to disrespect him, after everything. He had tried to get along with him despite his hate, because he knew that Hadrian could possibly care for him, but after their interactions, it was clear that Hadrian was not impressed with the shallow and judgemental Gryffindor although he tried to pretend he was fine with him to please everyone. However, the idea that Hadrian could still care about Sirius was what stopped Severus from attacking straight away. He turned to Bella and whispered to her. 

    “Is Hadrian aware that Sirius is going to die? He was his godfather, I don’t want to upset him,” Severus pulled back and Bella narrowed her eyes at Severus before looking at Sirius.    
    “I’ll go speak with him,” she turned and left up the stairs. Sorm slithered in from the dueling room and to Severus. He circled him and then stared at Sirius through the bars. 

    “What? Too scared to kill me?” Sirius looked around for anything to use to attack with in the cell and just like all examinations he previously did, there was still no weapons or anything that could be turned into a weapon. Severus had his arms crossed and rested against the wall about five feet away from Sirius’ cell. It was dark in the dungeon, but light was shining through the hall that led to the dueling room and more light that filtered through the dimmed torches that were sparsely hung on the walls. It really gave Severus a even deadlier look as he appeared almost ghost-like. Really he looked like a reaper of some sort. 

    “No,” Severus waited for Bella to get back, and he honestly didn’t want to converse with Sirius. Sirius however was trying to antagonize Severus to lose control. If Severus felt guilt, if Severus was upset, then that would weaken everyone as without Severus they were without potions, they were without many things. Sirius didn’t know that Severus was a vampire though and he was bleeding. From his nose, blood gushed out over his face and from his bitten lips from when he tried to hold back his screams. Bella had no problem torturing him but she couldn’t kill him. Sirius scoffed thinking about her, that crazy bint. 

    “Maybe you’re just too weak? What? Can’t do anything by yourself. Never could. You were always such an easy target, so pathetic. Woe is you, or whatever,” Sirius smiled when he saw the slight shift in Severus’ face. He was getting through to him, or at least he thought he was. Severus turned his head. He could hear the heartbeat of others, but he couldn’t recognize them at all by scent (although he was mostly smelling all the blood that was ready for the taking, but he refused to take anything from Sirius except his life). Severus didn’t expect Hadrian to run down into the dungeons but Bella came crashing through behind him and Hadrian attacked Severus, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his face against Severus’ stomach. 

    “You don’t want to hurt him because you’re scared you will hurt me,” Hadrian stated while Bella offered an apologetic look to Severus, but the vampire wasn’t paying attention to her at that point. 

    “I don’t want to do anything to hurt you,” Severus finally said and Sirius scoffed again. 

    “Harry, don’t listen to him, he’s lying. He’s always been a liar. He doesn’t love you, I love you,” Sirius said, reaching through the bars and out for Harry but Harry turned and pointed his wand at him. Sirius’ eyebrows furrowed. What was Hadrian going to do to him? 

   “You’re wrong. He loves me,” he starts before flicking his wrist at him and Sirius fell back, holding his chest. 

   “Where did you learn that?!” Sirius coughed and held a hand over his heart as it beat rapidly. “That’s dark magic… You bastard, you’re teaching  _ my godson _ the dark arts. I should have never let you take him. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have let him stay with you,” Sirius was hurt, but he knew that Hadrian was learning the dark arts, he knew that if he was Bella’s son, he would definitely learn the dark arts. He didn’t know the man who adopted Harry, but he assumed it was Severus or that man that Severus was always with. He thought his name may be Marvolo or something, he couldn’t remember, he didn’t care much. He didn’t know him like he knew Bella and Snivellus. 

    “I wanted to learn that… you follow someone who hurt me. You don’t love me, if you loved me then you would have saved me, but you didn’t, and I used you. You were so easy to manipulate. With your death, Draco or I will gain the House of Black fortune, and nobody will even remember you. Some  _ bastard _ . That’s what you are,” Sirius watched Harry with wide eyes. He couldn’t remember Harry being like this on any of his visits. He was soft spoken, shy, he had always seemed to care about what Sirius thought, he had thanked him and even though he was rude sometimes, Sirius was also rude so he never thought much about it. 

    “Pup--” 

    “You have no  _ right _ to call me that,” Harry turned back and looked at Severus, he stood beside him. “Why don’t you kill him now. I can’t believe he hurt you, Severus, and he tried to kill mum and I just… I’m sorry that I had ever thought anything relatively decent about him.” 

    “I don’t want you to have to see his death,” Severus whispered but Harry heard it. 

    “I want to watch though,” Harry grabbed Severus’ hand, the one without his wand in it. Severus looked down at Harry and then at Sirius. He used a spell to stick Sirius to the bars of the cell and Sirius struggled and started screaming at all of them, calling them horrible things and finally ending with the fact that he would get them, that this was his house, that he would make them regret it and then Severus made a lightning bolt with his wand as he cast the killing curse and in a flash of green Sirius’ soul was ripped from his body and cast into the Veil. Sirius’ dead body fell back away from the bars and Severus closed his eyes, a part of him glad that Sirius was dead, another happy that he got to exterminate the mutt, but there was a fraction that was nervous and guilty that Harry had seen it. He didn’t feel Harry pull him away from the wall and up the stairs, but when he was out of the dungeon he realized he had let himself be led. Harry pulled Severus into the library where Draco was reading, or trying to. Draco sat up quickly and looked over the back of the chair at Harry and Severus. Bella had gone somewhere to blow off steam because she didn’t know how to feel and not knowing how to feel made her angry so she was probably torturing someone at Riddle Manor or Slytherin Castle. Severus took a seat and Harry crawled up to sit with him and he took the book that Draco handed him. 

    “Don’t feel guilty,” Harry finally told Severus and Severus was guilty because he didn’t feel guilty, he felt so free, that was cathartic, it was liberating but he didn’t want Harry to see that, but at the same time, he didn’t want Harry to know or think he wasn’t a murderer, because he was. Harry opened the book he was skimming through, he had read the excerpts that Draco had showed him in reference to Severus and ever since Harry had been learning all he could about vampires so he could try and help when he could. Draco was more interested in learning about rare ingredients to potions and therefore he was reading a book on potion ingredients (most of which were highly illegal now or very rare and highly expensive). Severus wrapped one arm around Harry and Harry placed a hand over Severus before holding the book open on his lap. “Can I ask you something? Not counting this question of course.” 

    “You may always ask me questions… unless they are idiotic, then you shouldn’t ask me… what did you want to ask?” 

    “Am I part of your unit? Draco says they don’t really have a name, not like a pack like werewolves or a herd like centaurs, but they’re just units, like family units.” 

    “You are a part of my…  _ unit _ . You may not think of me as you think of Marvolo, your father, but I still consider you my child as I do take care of you as well. I don’t expect for you to think of me as you think of Marvolo, but you are most definitely a part of my unit, or whatever vampires have. I think the vampiric unit that you have read about is just a glorified family. You are a part of my family,” Harry closed the book and turned to rest against Severus and Severus wrapped his other arm around Harry. Perhaps Severus’ fear that Harry no longer wished for him to care for him was wrong as Harry was quite affectionate. 

    “I haven’t been spending much time with you because I was in the chamber. I want to be like father, I want to be a Dark Lord, but I don’t think I could be. I want to rule though, I want to be the best, the most powerful, I want to be great. I will spend more time with you… I love you so much,” Severus just pulled Harry closer to him and nodded. 

    “I love you too.” 

    Draco smiled, but in some ways he was jealous. He got affection from his mother, she cared for him, she gave him what he wanted, and she told him that she loved him, but to have a relationship like that with his father? No. It would never happen. Not with Lucius. His father was too cold, too distant. Draco knew that Lucius cared about him, he had to care about him after all, but he never got held by his father, and Lucius would never tell him that he loved him although Lucius would admit to being proud of Draco, but love was too weak of an emotion or too weak of an emotion that Lucius would admit to feeling unless it was about Narcissa, and even then it wasn’t said often and if it was said it was said in private. Draco was happy that Harry was happy though, because Harry loved him and he told him that he loved him and that’s all that Draco really needed. 


	8. Chapter 8

    Marvolo entered Grimmauld Place through the floo for the first time in four days, two days after Sirius Black’s death. When he walked through the house it was extremely and uncomfortably quiet. He knocked on Harry’s door and opened it when there was no response to check on him only to find Tyr who was whining for food. He called for Kreacher to feed Tyr and Kreacher just grumbled and did as he was asked before Marvolo continued through the house. He went to the guest room that was usually given to Draco when he stayed over since it was so close to Harry’s room. He knocked on the door and when he opened the door he also found no one. 

    Finally Marvolo went into the dungeons since he hadn’t been able to find anyone through the house and he found Severus sitting against the wall, staring at the corpse of Sirius Black. He pulled Severus to his feet. 

    “What’s going on?” 

    “The boys went to Malfoy Manor to raid the tiny closet in the library. I’ve been… I’ve been down here. Lucius has them, I hope that it is acceptable,” Severus looked lost, distant and his eyes were glassy. He also looked just as bad as he had four days earlier if not worse. 

    “Yeah, that’s fine. Come with me,” Marvolo practically dragged Severus up the stairs and away from the corpse of Severus’ childhood enemy and victim. In the sitting room, Marvolo took a seat and motioned to the chair across from him and Severus took a seat, placing his hands in his lap to hide the fact that his fingers were shaking and his fingers would twitch and lock up every now and then. “You look terrible. Even worse than the last time I saw you. What’s wrong?” 

    “Nothing, I just haven’t gone out. I’ve been busy and I didn’t want to leave Hadrian or Draco.” 

    “You’re lying,” Marvolo sat forward and reached out to touch Severus’ cheek and Severus pulled away. “Why are you lying to me?” 

    “It’s not important, that’s why… is everything stable? Is everyone safe? What of the Order? I haven’t been able to attend any meetings, I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to and I’m not sure if they have even called any. What if they suspect that I am no longer loyal?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I would no longer be useful,” Marvolo frowned, Severus was being particularly pessimistic at the moment and although he was a pessimist (who would call himself a realist) he was being abnormally depressing. Severus’ fingers locked up and he hid them behind his robes that flared to the sides as they weren’t buttoned, there was no need for them to be in his own home (or at least the place he currently resided). 

    “You will always be useful. You are the greatest potions master in Europe, if not the world, but even if you weren’t ‘useful’ as you say, then you would still be here, with me. I don’t keep you here because you are useful, I keep you here because I care about you,” Marvolo crossed his legs, his ankle resting on his knee. “Please tell me what’s wro--”   
    “I’m addicted…” 

      “What?” Marvolo’s legs uncrossed and he sat on the edge of his seat. “What do you mean by that? What are you addicted to?” 

    “Blood. I’m addicted to blood. In particular, your blood. I have required more and more blood when it isn’t yours and even then it does not satisfy me. You have all those books on the library table, I’m sure you’ve read about something similar to this.” 

    “Yes,” he whispered. “It’s a reason why the vampires fell into their current beasthood. They became ravenous and addicted to the blood of others, of their fellow beings and it displeased Magic… I’m so sor--” Severus held his hand up to silence Marvolo and the Dark Lord didn’t like it, but he didn’t want to stop his lover from doing it either. It was his fault, he could cost Severus everything and now he was being forced to suffer because of his actions. It wasn’t Severus’ fault, yet he felt shame for letting it happen, as if he had a choice. He was hungry, he had been suppressing himself and Marvolo had tempted him, and Marvolo hadn’t known the possible effect of his blood on Severus either, yet he still did what he had done. 

    “You have nothing to be sorry about. I should have been able to resist--”

    “No, it is my fault,” Marvolo interrupted. Severus looked up at Marvolo and Marvolo could see the need, the want, in his eyes. Marvolo felt bad about this, not like he had felt before, no he had felt lonely, sad, perhaps a little guilty, but he could possibly ruin Severus’ immortality due to his actions, he wished he could fix it, he didn’t want to hurt Severus but he had. He always hurt him, he always would and he couldn’t stop it, he didn’t know how to not hurt him. He was selfish, and greedy. He took what he wanted, when he wanted and even though he had regained sanity, he had stopped the torturing, he was still the same person he was before everything happened years before this. He was still the person he was when Severus was a teenager, he was still  _ evil _ , he was still the destroyer of others, a bringer of death, an agent of chaos, he wasn’t even human anymore. 

    “I have tried everything,” Severus finally said, after minutes of horrible silence. 

    “Come here, let me take care of you for now, it isn’t fair that you have to suffer,” Marvolo opened his arms up, ready to take Severus into his arms and allow him to take what he needed, enough to keep him sated, enough to help him feel better, but Severus looked hesitant and glared at Marvolo’s chest. Severus was a man who prided himself on the ability to separated himself from emotion, to hold back his desires, to do keep himself in control. Control. Something he had lost when he died it seems. Severus continued to hesitate until he moved and he moved so fast that he Marvolo couldn’t see where he had gone until he felt Severus against him, his mouth pressing his against his neck and his normal teeth nipping softly. Severus’ fangs extended and the vampire hesitated again, he needed this, he wasn’t well, in fact he felt as horrible as he looked. Marvolo hissed when fangs punctured his skin and he moaned softly as Severus lapped at the blood and sucked at the wound. Severus took a small amount before pulling away and healing his lover. He was then gone. There was the quiet shut of their bedroom door and Marvolo knew where Severus had gone, and he knew that Severus was now finally using the skills he had developed as part of his vampirism. Marvolo didn’t want to bother Severus who was probably dealing with self conflict, a fight against himself that he was bound to lose. 

 

    Harry and Draco had crawled into the hidden room in the Malfoy library and Harry was picking up scrolls and removing the dust from them before unrolling them and skimming over them. The scrolls were rarely about the same thing, in fact they were about a broad amount of subjects that ranged from muggle interaction logs from thousands of years ago to the installments of magic from the last time someone had found and accessed this part of the library, which was about a century before Draco had found it. How Draco had found it, and how he had accessed it when his father couldn’t was still a mystery to them, but he was glad he had found the niche because he had found very valuable and informational texts about a variety of different things. Some things he would never need to know, things he would need to know, and things that were just good to know and be stored away with all the knowledge that one could have. Harry had pulled out some of the old books and was trying to restore what he could but the pages were greatly degraded and he was scared he would ruin them and the precious knowledge that they held, so he left many of them for Draco to try and refurbish. They weren’t alone at the manor as Lucius was upstairs in his study doing work and writing up new laws that the Minister was trying to pass but was too stupid to write himself. Lucius liked working for the Ministry, he loved the influence that he had over people, the sway that he had and he loved how stupid everyone was because they were so easy to manipulate. He had little to no respect for the current Minister and his cronies but he didn’t mind using them to get what he wanted, and he would rather have weak willed and dumb people in high positions so he could use his influence over them to push the Dark Lord’s agendas rather than have someone who would work against him.

    The girls, Bellatrix, Pansy, Millicent, and Ginny were all in Diagon Alley. They had made plans to go to Twilfit and Tattings to purchase nice dress robes and gowns but if they couldn’t find anything that fit their standards they would head to the French alleys and if they couldn’t find anything there, they would head to another country, but hopefully they could find something between the stores offered. Bellatrix was just as excited as the younger girls although she already had her dress and gown for the ball and so did Pansy (as her mother had already bought it for her even though she didn’t like it). Ginny however had wished to bring her mother along but Molly decided it would be fun for her to go with her friends and let her know that they could go together the next year. Molly did have to buy her own gown as well as her son’s proper dress robes for the occasion, even Ron who would throw a fit no doubt. Ginny was ushered into the best clothing store in Diagon Alley and taken back where the Malfoys were usually taken and offered the most expensive and beautiful dresses and robes. Ginny tried on many different gowns. Some with white and black lace that was turned into flowers that decorated her shoulders while her dress was a swirl of black and white like marble and even gowns that were light blue that appeared to be as bright as a clear sky but as cool as ice at the same time. She had even found out that she liked going shopping, she liked being with her friends and she liked having the money to do what she wanted. It felt good to know she could have her own things and that she didn’t have to wear something her mother made with scraps of cloth or ugly clothes that her mother had worn when atrocious clothes were in fashion. 

    They had purchased a proper ball gown finally and had it delivered by house elf to the Prewett Estate. Ginny had gone up to pay but Bellatrix had told her it would be a treat from her since she was technically a Black as well. Millicent looked at the dresses herself, but she didn’t have an eye for fashion. She was slightly colour blind as well so she wasn’t much help in that area, but she liked looking at pretty girls and she could admit in some of the dresses that Ginny wore, she looked very stunning, and she had agreed on the one they purchased as being very beautiful. Millicent was going to be wearing proper robes, but not a gown like the other women, she knew it was improper, but her family was allowed the luxury of going against the rules, and if anyone had an issue with it, her father and family could crush the others (not the Malfoys or Blacks, nobody like that, but rather the other families that came) and her father was interesting in the sense that he didn’t want his daughter to be off like the other girls, he liked that she was independent and confident enough to do what she pleased and as long as she asked she was allowed to do almost anything she wanted. 

    The girls did make their way to France for lunch however and Ginny was as shocked as Harry had been when he went out of the country for the first time. There Ginny bought herself silver crescent moon earrings, each with three thin chains that held quartz crystals. They were quite nice and Pansy thought they would look very good with her dress. After they all finished lunch and they were done looking through some of the shops in Ruelle de Lignes, they went back to Diagon Alley, at the Leaky Cauldron, where Peony Parkinson and Jensen Bulstrode were waiting for their children. Millicent excused herself from her friends and went to her father where he nodded at her. Peony gave them quite a dirty look, but Jensen ignored it. Millicent may not have been a pureblood, but their influence and wealth was no less, in fact they were much better off than the Parkinson’s seeing as Peony was spending all their money quicker than Mr. Parkinson could make it. Millicent thanked Bellatrix for the lovely outing and Jensen thanked her as well for watching her and they used the floo to exit. Pansy looked uncomfortable and Ginny put a hand on her shoulder. Peony did not like the Bulstrodes, she actually disliked them very much, and she knew that Pansy was quite friendly with little Ms. Bulstrode and she was not happy about it. She only agreed because she thought that is Pansy could prove herself worthy to Bellatrix, perhaps they could get in with the Black and Slytherin family. Peony grabbed Pansy’s hand and pulled her off to the apparation point and they apparated home before Pansy could say much. Ginny watched and looked up to Bellatrix for an explanation. 

    “Mrs. Parkinson doesn’t like Millicent because she’s a halfblood and I don’t think she likes you very much either, but she wants Pansy to enter a contract with Hadrian so she is trying to show her off to me since I am Hadrian’s mother,” Ginny looked absolutely lost. Bellatrix patted Ginny’s red hair and smiled. Her smile always seemed cruel, even if it wasn’t. Perhaps it was because she smiled even when she was doing horrible things and everybody knew it. Her smile put a lot of people on edge. “I’m sure you can ask your mother about the Bulstrodes and the Parkinsons, she should know about their families. Let’s get your home. Would you like me to floo with you or are you able to go yourself?” 

    “I can go myself. Thank you Madam Lestrange.” 

    “Oh you can call me Bella, dear. I’ll see you in five days for the ball,” Bella walked with Ginny to the fireplace and Ginny threw the powder at her feet and called out for Prewett Estate before going home. Bella apparated home. When she walked inside it was quite tense and she tried to ignore it. She went to the dungeon and looked at Sirius’ body and although she couldn’t kill him herself, she felt nothing when she looked at him, no sadness, not any longer anyway. He was gone, it’s not like he could come back. 

    Severus left back for Hogwarts that afternoon, after he sat in his bedroom for a good hour to just calm down, his heart had been beating with the new blood that he consumed and it stopped once again. He walked into the school and watched the few Slytherins that had to stay at the school for the holidays. It was mostly the fifth and seventh years as they were busy studying for their NEWTs and OWLs therefore they didn’t think they should take a break lest they forget everything. As Severus was in his private potions lab, trying to make a new batch of blood replenishers for Marvolo as well as new skele-grow for the infirmary due to the influx of students who do stupid things and break their bones. Of course, there had been many Gryffindors who had broken their bones but there was one student who had a broken ankle, Luna Lovegood. The little Ravenclaw who sat at the Slytherin table. She had told Narcissa that the crows had simply pecked at her until she fallen and therefore she hurt herself. She hadn’t been wearing shoes either so she had slipped without the grip her shoes provided. Severus didn’t understand her very much, but he was glad she wasn’t one of his students, she was so bizarre and he wasn’t sure if he could do much for her besides keep the Ravenclaws from picking on her, as they so obviously do. He did believe that her classmates had pushed her and then she had slipped and fallen causing her to break her ankle, but when asked, she refused to tell anyone if her classmates were mean to her. 

    That night, the teachers all sat at the head table and watched as one table of students sat together. There weren’t even enough students to fill the first table and while it was mostly younger years that didn’t have much to offer for the holidays or students who didn’t live with their families, there was one student like this, there were older students who hadn’t gotten very good grades and were trying to take this time as an opportunity to study harder and get the upperhand in their classes. There were no Gryffindors and a few Slytherins and Ravenclaws, but the students were mostly Hufflepuffs and Severus almost felt bad for the students who couldn’t go back to their families because of some reason or another, like all the younger children that had stayed back, but he would never voice this. 

    The staff ate their food and then the students went off to their common rooms. Dumbledore had sent Severus a letter, it had been sitting on his desk when he arrived in his office, and it had asked for him to join them for an Order meeting and then to burn the letter, which he did. He had gone back to his office to lock everything before he went to the headmaster’s office where the meeting was taking place. He was one of the first to arrive and Albus turned to him. 

    “Severus, are you alright?” 

    “I’m fine, Albus, thank you,” Severus crossed his arms as he usually did and watched the floo for people. 

    “Can I assume that you know about the attack nearly five days ago? You weren’t here for the meeting that followed. Shall I debrief what we discussed then?” Albus reached out and put a hand on Severus’ shoulder. The old man could feel the heat radiating from Severus’ clothes, as if he had put a heating charm on, but that is to be expected as he lives in the dungeons. It is terribly cold in the bowels of Hogwarts. 

    “I do know of the attack. I’m unsure why it happened as I was not there, and the Dark Lord did not wish to tell me. I think he is suspicious of my loyalty, he has often brought up my position as a spy and I fear that he has been informed somehow. However I felt the summons at the same time and I had to leave to make sure that my son and godson were safe as they live with other death eaters. Don’t worry, they are quite safe where they are at, and I hope that we can discuss what had happened to cause such a reaction from everybody.” 

    “Yes. Evan Rosier came to us with Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf was asking about one of his, Mr. Lupin, and he offered an exchange of information in order for Mr. Lupin. You see, Remus has been placed away, far away, and I’m sure that his alpha had sensed what was happening and came for him in desperation,” Severus frowned. How could someone do that to another human? Yes, the death eaters tortured people, but never their own without good reason. In order to have the alpha worried about one of his Children, he would have to have been in extreme pain or near death. Remus hated Fenrir, he wouldn’t call him unless he honestly feared for his life. Had Dumbledore turned against him? Severus made no indication as to thinking anything was wrong, he just nodded his head so Albus would continue. “He had brought a death eater who wished to defect, Mr. Rosier, however I haven’t heard from him so I assume he has been harmed. They brought us the files of the allies to the Dark and the Aurors were dispatched and sent to them in order to arrest them as they were mostly creatures who had broken the law and were in hiding. We then had Fenrir tell us that Rosier was taken by a house elf from a place called Riddle Manor and that the death eaters were being called, the ‘inner circle’ he had said. He said that Voldemort,” Severus flinched and Albus saw it, but thought little of it. Many of the Dark Lord’s followers were too scared to say his name therefore didn’t say his name for fear of punishment. “That Voldemort would call many of his death eaters to their common ground. Slytherin Castle, and he gave us the coordinates. The Order went to them to capture as many death eaters as possible. We wished only to take them into custody and place them in Azkaban where they belong for their crimes. However Sirius and Alastor were taken and Mr. Weasley suspects that Molly has turned to the Dark Lord as her entire personality has changed for the worst… do you have any information that you would prefer stay between us?” 

    “Thank you for explaining it to me… no, I do not have any information. I know very little as I wasn’t even at the battle. I know that Bellatrix was there and that we have gotten new members in the inner circle but they don’t remove their masks. The Dark Lord has said that they must remain a secret. There are only two new members, and both are very tall, I doubt that it could be Mrs. Weasley. The fact that I didn’t hear her shrill voice anytime is also an indicator that she may not actually be a death eater, but I will keep my eye open.” 

    “Alright,” Dumbledore smiled and for the first time in so long, he connected eyes with Severus as a poor attempt in legilimency. Severus easily blocked him and showed him images that connected with his story, made up images before he forced Dumbledore out and narrowed his eyes. “I apologize, I simply needed to see. I know you understand,” Severus just nodded before turned back to look at the fireplace. 

    Soon after their conversation died out, people started to show up. 

    Arthur Weasley had brought his son since he couldn’t leave him at the house alone and Dumbledore had let him go out to wait out of the office, offering Ron a lemon drop, which the boy took as it was sweet and he loved any sort of candy, but especially free candy. Tonks and Ted sat next to each other and were whispering but Severus could hear everything. 

    “I don’t like this anymore, I think it’s wrong, dad,” Tonks said and Ted looked up at his daughter in shock. 

   “Don’t say things like that. You know too much, you cannot leave now,” Tonks frowned and started talking about her suspicions and Ted told her to silence herself before he took up a loud conversation with Arthur Weasley about muggles or something ridiculous. Severus couldn’t help but to scowl. He hated muggles. All muggles. They were disgusting, horrible creatures and they deserved to die, but he wouldn’t kill them. The Dark Lord didn’t want to kill muggles, he wanted to keep wizards protected, safe and out of the way. To keep muggles from finding out about magic, both the Dark Lord and Severus were convinced that given enough time, the muggles would kill themselves off with wars over petty things and due to their degradation of their precious planet, which for the wizards, they could protect and keep safe. 

    “Has anyone heard anything from Sirius? Severus, you’re in with You-Know-Who, is Sirius alive?” This was Tonks. She turned to look at Severus and the potions master wasn’t sure how to feel. He wanted to laugh at everyone that surrounded him, but he also wanted to seem as natural as possible. 

    “I haven’t heard anything about the mutt, but he’s so stupid he probably said something and was killed. I don’t have hope for him,” Tonks glared at him. That was her cousin he was talking about, but she also knew how much they disliked each other. She didn’t think she had approached the subject rudely though, she didn’t have a grasp on proper conduct when it came to interpersonal relationships. 

    “Oh,” was all she said before she turned to listen to what her father and Arthur were talking about. They were still talking about Molly and Severus had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. They were all so stupid. How did they possibly do any damage to the death eaters, they were far superior, but Severus knew he shouldn’t underestimate his opponents, that was a deadly mistake. Albus brought the meeting to silence before Minerva entered and took a seat beside Severus. 

    “The bodies of Dorcas, Emmeline and Marlene were all found outside of Hogsmeade yesterday morning. Their funerals are to be announced. Dorcas was the only person with living relatives and even she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. We are to arrange the funerals of Emmeline and Marlene as they have no family,” some of the members choked up or held back tears. “Alastor and Sirius still haven’t been found, and we have no way of knowing what situation they are in besides not being with us and with the death eaters,” Albus sighed and looked up to see many hurt and sad faces. How was he to rule people who were broken? He could mould a broken person, but broken people did not do their best, they had nothing to fight for and they didn’t fight their best. “We can only hope for the best and stay focused on the task at hand.” 

    “Which is?” Severus asked finally and Arthur glared at him, but the stupid Weasley never did like him. 

    “Defeating Voldemort,” everybody flinched. “Taking our world back and keeping all we can safe,” there were nods around the table as if the sheep agreed wholeheartedly, but Severus could see wasn’t the truth. There was definitely the craquelure of fading hope in most members, especially those who begun with little faith or had the brilliance (in a completely sarcastic way) to see that Dumbledore’s actions weren’t all positive and good. It was almost depressing to watch and see how disorganized and how imperfect the Order was. Not to say that the death eaters were perfect, but they were definitely better than this mess. Voldemort was less punishing but he still expected high quality work from everyone. 

    “We would probably have the upper hand if we didn’t invite death eaters to the meetings,” Arthur said and everyone looked to Severus. Severus looked around at everybody with indifference. 

    “I will leave if you no longer require my assistance. I just want the best, as do all of you.” 

    “No, you do not have to leave. You are a valuable asset,” Dumbledore said as he motioned with his hands for everyone to calm down as quiet chatter broke out between some of the less obvious people while the majority of Gryffindors started shouting at each other. Minerva was above such shouting and she sat quietly. She, perhaps more than the others, knew of the more dishonourable things that happened and she, unlike the rest, understood that it was wrong but she also disagreed with the Dark Lord. Like Severus and Molly, Minerva would be a great asset. She was a mistress of transfiguration and a proficient duellist. She had been obviated more than one time and had weak occlumency skills but so did many death eaters, they were easily picked off or they learned; it was that simple. 

    “It’s getting late, why don’t you take your son home, Arthur. I’m sure he would like to spend time with his father now that his siblings have, in his mind, abandoned him,” Minerva said, trying to rid the room of the Weasley. She knew Arthur well but she didn’t have to like or want to be in his company and she definitely didn’t have to agree with any of his ideas, most were skewed anyway. Arthur nodded and Albus waved him off but added a familiar and sympathetic nod to soften the dismissal. Arthur left to collect Ronald and they walked back into the room and used the floo to get back to the Burrow. The meeting went downhill from there and it was obvious a few members were rethinking their stance in the war. Albus had been rather apathetic towards the loss of Sirius and that unnerved some of the other followers who wanted to be remembered and cared about posthumously by their family and friends. Sirius didn’t seem to receive that courtesy despite the possibility of his death. Soon, people were shouting out their home names as they used the floo since there were anti-apparation wards at Hogwarts. Severus and Minerva stayed behind as they usually did to give a slight overview of the students. They would give their full remarks and opinions during the staff meetings every other Monday (although it was only when school was in session and the week before school started). 

    Severus walked with Minerva down from the headmaster’s office. Minerva stopped and reached out to one of her favourite students. 

    “Are you alright?” She asked and Severus stopped and turned to her. She reached out and placed a hand on his arm. He put a hand over her hand.    
    “I am. I’m just a little shocked. I didn’t see any of this coming, and I was terrified for Hadrian. I mean, I trusted Bella to watch him but when I went home, she was gone and Hadrian was all alone,” he shook his head in half fake worry. He hadn’t been too worried because Harry hadn’t been alone but after the death eaters were being taken into the house, Severus had grown concerned. Even more so when he had to leave them in order to assist in healing the death eaters that had been in the makeshift infirmary/sitting room. 

    “I’m sure. I’m here, I always am, Severus,” She smiled warmly but she was still as stern as always as if not going to her to talk would make her come after you in her cat form so she can dock points or something. Severus nodded and she released him as Severus took her up to her room. She smiled and patted his shoulder and left him in the hallways. Severus made his way down to the dungeons and into his chambers where he slept surprisingly well due to the fresh and satiating blood he had indulged in. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We interrupt the main story to present to you: The Malfoy's Yule Ball
> 
> Honestly, my favourite parts of writing this story (and the one previous) has been the chance to write about the Yule Ball. I get to look up delicious looking foods and I get to search through clothes that would look good on everybody and the best part is I get to describe all of that stuff to you. I hope you enjoy this part. Even if it is just a portion of how much I enjoyed writing it then it is probably good (hopefully). 
> 
> Enjoy :)

    Draco had finished dressing in his dress robes. He was dressed in black, as he looked stunning in black dress robes. However his dress robes weren’t like Severus’ dress robes as Severus wore the ‘potion cut’ or whatever he called it where it would cinched at the waist, wrists and had a straight collar. He wore them to avoid potions accidents and he wore everything as if he was about to start brewing potions at any second, but Draco knew how to look  _ good _ in his clothes and this was a shade that contrasted with his hair perfectly. Harry was dressed just as nice and his hair was braided down his back as it was quite long and he wore dark purple and black robes as he adored purple and wouldn’t have it any other way. They sat at their table and waited impatiently for everyone to arrive. Lucius was dressed as impeccably as he ever was and Narcissa looked just as stunning. Bellatrix had gone to gather Hermione since her parents wanted her to go once she got the invitation. Bellatrix was going to be watching her for the night and then returning her home safely. Theo was excited to get to go and see Hermione and teach her all he could about why balls were so important and why it was particularly important for the Malfoys every Yule. Severus was still at Hogwarts but he would be arriving soon. 

    The doors opened to the ballroom that was set up so ornately. There were beautiful living wreaths with fancy silver bulbs and ornaments decorating them along with deep red berries and other festive things while there were twinkling lights around the room much like the lights in Harry’s library trunk but instead of clear blue they were practically clear giving off clean light as if they were small stars. There was just as large of a tree as the previous years and there were beautiful, animated birds tweeting and hopping around on the branches except Draco had taken the time to grow this tree himself and all the flowers were all grown by Draco and they were still living, still buried in a large, hidden pot of soil. Draco was going to make his family help him plant the tree in the forest of trees before they returned to school. Harry looked up to see who was entering the ballroom and it was just Marvolo who was looking quite regal in dark green robes. He walked in to see Narcissa exiting the room to go to the floo room along with Lucius who went to the door to greet those guests. Draco was technically supposed to help his mother but with enough  _ discussion  _ (he wouldn’t call it an argument but it was), Narcissa allowed Draco to stay with Harry for the night. Bellatrix and Hermione were the first ‘guests’ that arrived. Bella, much like Narcissa, wore a long black dress but while Narcissa’s went up to her neck where she had a collar of silver that went up her neck and down over her shoulders, made with real silver and clasped together very carefully over the top of her dress, Bella’s dress had a risque slit up the side and dipped low in the back and down her front only to drag behind her as she walked. With a little bit of magic, her dress never got dirty and remained as pure and satiny in the twinkling magical starlight. Hermione was greeted by Harry more enthusiastically than Draco, but Draco never really liked Hermione that much. 

    While Hermione wore a much more muggle looking dress as it had rhinestones placed on it that actually looked nice rather than like a normal rhinestone trainwreck. There was silver embroidery on the top as well in intricate patterns and swirls. Her hair was just as frizzy as ever but it looked as if her friz was on purpose much like Bella’s hair. It was clear that Bella helped Hermione get ready and Hermione walked in as a shy princess and Harry greeted her and Hermione smiled at him and gave a little curtsey. 

    Soon the politicians start to arrive. The Minister of Magic came to the ball and his wife along with Dolores Umbridge and Ludo Bagman. Many other people started to arrive, but Harry didn’t know most of them. He heard their names as Marvolo and Bellatrix greeted them. Severus was next to enter and Harry ran to him as fast as he could without looking like a child, so it was a fast walk, and he reached out and took Severus’ hand pulling him back to the table they were at. Severus looked up at Marvolo who smiled and winked at him. As a vampire, it was very distracting around so many people, especially when those people weren’t smelly little teenagers but nice, alluring adults. He was very sure that there was another vampire somewhere, but he didn’t go out of his way to meet them as he didn’t particularly want to know any other vampires lest he somehow group up with them as if he were in a ‘pack’. He definitely didn’t want it, but if anything vampires were just as instinctual as any other magical creature/being. 

    Peony and William Parkinson walked into the room and William shook hands with Marvolo at the door and Peony smiled cordially at Bellatrix and Bella smiled back despite their mutual distaste for each other. Pansy walked in behind her parents, scared that she would have to deal with her mother’s behaviour again this year only to go home and be scolded for not being pretty enough or good enough to find a suitor at twelve years old. Peony was a witch, and not just because she was magical. Pansy didn’t like her mother and it was apparent in the way she held herself around her. William was a polite man but he was also spineless and absolutely passive in everything he did, and while Pansy loved him she knew she couldn’t count on him for support or in dealings with her mother because Peony would always dominate and rule over the conversation which usually led to making Pansy feel even worse about herself. Pansy was in a dress a little mature for a twelve year old as there was a long slit between her absent breast that showed just a few centimeters of skin between the lapels that truly covered her, but either way, it was clear that she was uncomfortable. Pansy had thought her dress beautiful but she was nervous to wear it but her mother had bought it and insisted (forced/shamed/guilted and bullied) her into wearing the dress along with the hells and her hair pulled up despite the short cut she had it. It was clipped to her head with several different charms and then she was crowned with a headband with silver flowers and precious sapphire’s that matched her slate blue dress that was pushed off of her shoulders despite it being quite cold outside. She looked up at her friends but it was clear to them that she couldn’t leave her mother’s side, not yet at least. Blaise came later and his mother was refined and elegant in her older age. She was dark skinned with precious brown eyes that made her seem soft but they were anything but in reality. She was a stern woman but she also prided herself on being fair. Towards her son however, she was the most lenient parent of them all. She gave Blaise everything he wanted and didn’t fault him for anything. This was likely because of her own feelings of inadequacy and the fact she couldn’t keep a husband, they all mysteriously fell ill and withered away under her. The true reason was kept close to the chest, not even Blaise understood yet, but Mrs. Zabini still felt as though Blaise needed a father so he got new ones very often and with them their titles and fortune. 

    Blaise joined Draco, Harry and Hermione at the table and they watched poor Pansy be shuffled around and led around by her mother. They knew better to listen to their conversations but Harry and Draco’s hearing picked up on the average volumed conversations since most others were whispering or talking about things they would rather be in the safety of a privacy bubble to talk about. Harry and Draco both traded looks when Pansy’s mother made a pass at a man twice Pansy’s age about marriage. That man was actually one of Marvolo’s more loyal death eaters: Amycus Carrow. His sister was beside him and watched sympathetically as Pansy’s mother tried to haggle her daughter into their family through marriage. 

    Theo entered the ballroom with his father, Kaius Nott, and his grandfather, Cantankerous Nott. Theo made his way over to Hermione and he kissed her hand. 

    “You look lovely,” he smiled and took a seat beside her. He followed their eyes to Pansy. “Oh no, her dumb mother is doing this again,” Theor sighed. “She’s trying to get her with Carrow? He’s definitely not going to accept, no, he can’t, I’m sure your father will step in before that, Harry.” 

    “One can hope my father decides to intervene,” Harry finally says and Hermione looks to them in confusion. She understands that Pansy is uncomfortable but Pansy doesn’t talk much about her family, so Hermione felt she was missing something important to this conversation. She whispered to Theo and Harry quickly put them in a silence bubble before hiding his wand and the fact he had just cast underage magic. 

    “What’s wrong with Pansy?” 

    “Her mother has been trying to sell her off to whoever has the highest price. She tried to get Pansy in with the Malfoys then with Harry because his father is Lord Slytherin and now the Carrows, an ancient pureblood family. She’s looking for contracts, and it embarrasses Pansy but her mother wants the money and wants it at the expense of her daughter,” Hermione nodded her understanding and Harry remove the privacy bubble once Theo gave him a nod as the ‘OK’ to remove it. Hermione turned her attention back to Pansy who was looking very uncomfortable and hunched over as if trying to hide her chest and even more as she looked down to hide her face. Bellatrix finally went over there and quite rudely but slyly interrupted Peony and started talking with Amycus and Alecto about their plans towards education and both couldn’t wait to discuss their future goals of eventually teaching at Hogwarts once the Dark Lord took control and offered them positions as professors. They wanted to share their knowledge so bad but neither wanted children. In the end, they would most likely adopt someone to continue their line. Peony’s face did get a shade pinker but she took Pansy away from them and towards another group of people until the Bulstrodes walked in. 

    Lord Bulstrode, Jensen, walked in and his only and oldest son, Milo, greeted Marvolo along with his father and Millicent acted as her brother did and greeted Marvolo. Milo separated from his father and Millicent and Jensen found themselves in the same conversation as the Parkinsons. Millicent asked if Pansy could join her friends at the table while their parents socialized until the meal. Peony, in a group setting, would sound cruel if she didn’t allow Pansy to go to her friends and she allowed it. Pansy walked with Millicent towards Harry and the rest of the group. Millicent reached down to hold Pansy’s hand and rub her thumb over her thumb soothingly before giving her a little smile. Millicent pulled a chair out for Pansy who thanked her and sat down. Blaise smiled and leaned forward hitting Millicent on the shoulder and grinning at her. Millicent just smiled back and looked at her friends. 

    “So what has happened so far?” Millicent asked and they all looked at each other. 

   “Mrs. Parkinson has been a down right mean mother,” Theo finally said and Hermione, Blaise and Pansy all agreed fervently while Draco and Harry just gave small nods, because it’s true, that’s what had happened so far. Soon the Weasleys made their first appearance in public as the Prewetts rather than the Weasleys and in a high society setting. As the twins walked in, they greeted Marvolo as they should have and Percy did the same before Bill and Charlie. They all looked so nice and were dressed in sleek dark blue robes while Molly wore a blue gown with lace frills over her bosom to hide the fact that she had large breast as she didn’t like them very much. Ginny wore a light blue dress, setting her different from the others who were in darker shades of the colour and she had her hair in the same braid and ringlets as she had when she first got on the Hogwarts’ Express. In fact she had a long white twist of preserved snowdrop flowers littering through her red hair. She smiled and greeted Marvolo with her mother. Ron was the only one who didn’t greet Marvolo and the Dark Lord just shook his head at Molly who apologized for his behaviour but explained that she didn’t want to make him feel left out or not part of his family, which he was very much a part of. The twins and Ginny made their way towards Harry and Draco while Ron just sauntered around and finally towards them because he was put in an awkward position and didn’t know what to do. Bill and Charlie went around with their mother and introduced themselves and talked about their professions when asked. It was quite interesting to speak with a Dragon Tamer and a Curse Breaker and Molly introduced herself as Molly Prewett and introduced all of her children, even the one who didn’t really want to be with them. Finally some of the last people got through the doors and just as Narcissa and Lucius were walking back the Lovegoods walked inside. Luna was wearing a white gown with a tangle of silver and opal wire through her hair and large quartz earrings with runes carved and inked into the sides. Xenophilius shook Lucius and Marvolo’s hands before introducing Luna and thanking them for the invite. They all went around and mingled. Luna found her way towards her friends, looking as dazed as ever as she danced through the groups of people. 

    Finally they were finished with socializing on the floor and rather they went to the tables that started to appear with the names of the people at each table. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan, Hermione, Theo, Cantankerous and Kiaus sat at one table while the Parkinsons and Bulstrodes sat together with Bagman who was alone. The Weasley/Prewetts took up an entire table of their own and both Lovegoods were seated with strange faces and the Zabinis. The Malfoys sat with Marvolo, Severus and Harry as well as The Minister, Cornelius Fudge, and Dolores Umbridge. 

    This year there was different food, as to be expected, but there was more variety between them. You just pointed to the one you want on the little menu, just like the previous year. For starters they had roasted butternut squash ricotta and sage crostini, apple brussel sprouts salad, or a rosemary potato tart. Harry picked the salad and a grey, lacquered-stone bowl appeared before him. Inside were perfectly halved brussel sprouts that were roasted on each side until they were soft and gold with warm, crispy, white apples with bright red peels and on top was cranberries and pecans. It looked delicious, but this time it wasn’t so easy because there were three different forks. Which one was he supposed to use? He looked to Draco for guidance and Draco pointed to his own fork, the one closest to his plate as discreetly as possible and Harry picked up the salad fork and went to take a bite of the weird salad. It was weird because there was no salad parts, like lettuce. Isn’t that what was in a salad? Apparently not, but come to think of it, Severus last year had a ‘salad’ without any of the leafy green stuff. Draco got the potato tart and it looked good but Harry wasn’t going to ask Draco for a bite even though he really wanted some. He knew how to behave for the most part, it was the little things that got him. He had indeed been taught, albeit briefly, about which fork to use and all of that boring stuff, but he hadn’t had to practice it for years like Draco had. 

    When all the plates and bowls were taken away, there was the option of pork, beef and a sweet potato casserole. Harry liked sweet potatoes but not enough to want to eat something made purely of sweet potatoes (there was cheese too but that was it and that sounded boring). He got the pecan and bacon stuffed pork loin and he took small bites despite the fact he wanted to just shove all the food in his face at once. He looked over at the Weasley table and he saw that Molly was scolding the twins without words but with her evil eyes. Both Fred and George started to take things seriously when Ron started talking and they ignored him and started talking to Bill and Charlie about their adventures around the world. 

    Across a few tables, Hermione was being shown which fork to use, but there was no hostility or ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude coming from Bellatrix, rather she was just informing Hermione as if she was informing a child at their first dinner party, which it was for Hermione. Bella conversed easily with Kiaus as Cantankerous and the Lestrange twins were talking about unimportant things. Just small talk really. Theo was also conversing with Hermione when Bella wasn’t talking to her. Bella and Kaius had gone to school together, so they were reminiscing about the past as Hermione and Theo listened and compared their times so far. To the left of their table was Pansy and the Bulstrodes. Peony had gotten so bad she was offering to marry Pansy to Milo. 

    “Pansy is a smart girl, she gets good grades. A very good witch,” Peony tried to reason but Jensen wasn’t listening to it. Millicent looked at Pansy and Jensen looked between the two girls and crossed his arms after pushing his empty plate forward so the house elves would collect it. 

    “You really want Pansy to marry into the Bulstrode family?” Peony nodded with a desperate smirk. “Why don’t we have your daughter marry Millicent then? Would you be opposed to this Milicent?” 

    “No, it would be an honour to marry a witch as brilliant as Pansy, father,” Millicent got Pansy to blush across the table and Pansy looked up at her mother, as if she would listen to her. Peony thought about it, tilting her head to the side and dropping her hands into her lap. 

    “I will think about it,” Peony finally said but Jensen sighed. 

   “Mrs. Parkinson,” he addressed her formally, this was no place for friendly meetings rather it was a decision dealing with their daughters’ futures. “You have been putting Pansy through so much these past few years. I remember on her tenth birthday when all of this contract nonsense began. I offered Millicent as the suitor for your daughter, and I am offering Pansy a place in our family and you by extension. If there is something to think about when it is offered, when Millicent is offered,  _ my daughter _ , and you must think about your decision while you paraded and tried to persuade grown men into marrying your daughter, I feel that you are dismissing Millicent as not good enough. Am I to believe that you would rather your daughter marry into old, perverse lines where the possibility for actual feeling is being denied due to your prejudice. Now, I offer this once again, Millicent may enter into a contract with Pansy, your daughter. Or we can forget this conversation happened and continue on with the night,” Jensen looked at Milo who was looking down at Millicent who was staring at Pansy with a love that Milo had seen his father look at his mother with when he was still a young child, before she passed away. Peony looked almost insulted but with a huff of breath she sat up straight and turned her nose up, her ugly pig-snout of a nose. 

    “I suppose that it is acceptable for Pansy to enter a contract with Millicent but I still wish for the possibility of finding another suitor. How am I to expect an heir when my daughter marries another female?” 

    “There is this wonderful invention called magic, Mrs. Parkinson,” Jensen stated while the house elves started to pop away with more and more of the guests’ plates and dishes. Pansy hid her blushing face by looking down but she was internally screaming. She had mentioned Millicent, and her mother hated the Bulstrodes but they were a very powerful family and therefore marrying into them would be very promising for her, but Pansy knew that Millicent has said something to her father, she must have said something because Mr. Bulstrode was being far too nice and rational towards her ungrateful mother. She would thank him after the ball and once out of earshot of her mother, properly thank him, not give him false gratitude that her mother will force her to say, if she gets to say any at all. Likely not with the posture her mother has taken on which is quite ‘above’ others, as if she is better, which only made Pansy more ashamed of her family. 

    Dessert was next and there were three options just like there was with the other previous courses. There were mini white chocolate mousse with raspberries sprinkled with powdered sugar as if they had been snowed on. There was something called pavlovas and it had pomegranate cream with whatever it was and then there were miniature, single serving, pumpkin butterscotch spice cake trifles. Harry wanted to eat all of them, he loved sugar, he wanted all the delicious dessert that the Malfoys likely had in the kitchen in abundance. Harry decided to get the trifle since he knew what that was and while he liked mousse, he wanted the sweetness of butterscotch and the delicious pumpkin-spice of the cake that was bound to be drenched in sweet syrup or something similar. When it appeared in front of Harry, he let out a small noise that luckily nobody else heard, and if they did, they didn’t mention it. Harry picked up his spoon and looked at the glorious mountain of cake, cream and butterscotch sauce along with a little gingerbread man on the top. Draco had gotten whatever that pomegranate thing was and it was shaped as a swam with pomegranate cream and fresh pomegranate drupe covering the sculpted swan like drops of fruity blood, but festive as well. Thinking of blood, Harry looked to Severus who had eaten just a small amount of everything but he looked extremely sick and uncomfortable. 

    “... I think that centaurs should be restricted from entering into populated areas. Not only are they extremely noticeable but they are savages, heathens I tell you!” Ms. Umbridge was saying, her hands flying around widely as she spoke. She had gotten the white chocolate mousse and seemed to be eating it in large bites, only pausing to eat before starting up on her anti-creature, anti-being ideas. It was almost upsetting just being around her. “And werewolves, filthy half breeds. They are monsters and are very dangerous, they should be tagged and documented. We should give them certain areas to house and to  _ breed _ ,” she shivered violently at the thought of such ‘filthy, disgusting, savage’ beasts from procreating. How would they know how to take care of a child anyway? Even more importantly, how would they regulate the amount of werewolf offspring. Lucius and Narcissa listened politely but held their tongues as they so often did in public. “And what of vampires. They should just be put down. They are ruining wizarding life. The weak willed become addicted and the poor become targets. They turn good wizards into blood-drinking monsters, I think we need to put a stop to allowing these half breeds from doing anymore damage to our communities and homes. They are terrorizing us and we must put a stop to it before something bad happens, before we all end up dead. These creatures can’t control themselves, they are just that, monsters. They are no better than You-Know-Who. In fact, he was the one who had all of them employed, they’re all working against us. It’s us or them and I would like to stay alive.” 

    “Yes, I see,” Marvolo finally said after Dolores pushed back a loose strand of hair and tucked it back into the bun at the back of her head. She wore a fluffy pink coat over her tight pink dress, showing her curves. Curves in the wrong places, or at least not the places that most people liked curves. She was a squat, mean little woman and she deserved to die, but now that she had voiced her opinion to them, she couldn’t die. Her vocal bigotry saved her life as if she is attached then it could possibly lead back to Marvolo and Severus who both didn’t look very pleased. Severus could easily be explained because he never looked pleased, he always looked to be in a sour mood, but Marvolo was usually a friendly, outgoing man but he looked very upset by her words. The Minister recognized this and put his hand on his undersecretary’s arm to silence her, or at least calm her down. Her face had gone just as pink as her fluffy coat as she voiced herself but she silenced herself when she saw the displeasure on Marvolo’s face, completely ignoring Severus who she already thought was some greasy death eater, barely worth anything more than a life sentence in Azkaban. She had petitioned to remove him from Hogwarts several times only to be turned down, she didn’t have any children but that man gave her a bad feeling and that meant quite a bit when you were as likeable and observant as she was. He must have had a problem if he could not find her enjoyable to be around, of course that was the reason that gave her a bad feeling about him. 

    Both boys were staring at her with wide eyes. Draco had taken a few bites of his dessert but pushed it forward to be taken away but Harry had pulled it back down and switched their plates when nobody was looking so he could finish whatever this  _ pavlovas _ stuff was. He took a big bite, not big enough to be rude or obscene but big enough to get a little bit of pavlova, pomegranate drupe and some of the pomegranate cream. He watched as his father let one hand drop to touch Severus’ thigh. Marvolo leaned forward, pushing his plate up and away. A house elf took it away and Narcissa decided that she would quickly turn the conversation around before Marvolo let his foolish emotions run him into doing something stupid. 

    “How was dessert? Hadrian Severus Black-Gaunt, did you eat Draco’s dessert?” Narcissa’s mostly faked outburst caused everyone to look at Harry who had a mouth full of food. He swallowed the food and looked as if he was about to cry. Draco sighed. 

    “Mother, he’s too cute when he eats, leave him be,” Draco tried to act haughty but the fact that he just called Harry cute still lingered in the air. The Minister looked at Lucius and they decided it best to discuss the next Hogwarts Board of Governors meeting which would be taking place a week after the beginning of the new term, as it had every year before and it would continue every year after. Narcissa gave a sympathetic look to Harry but smiled at him and looked to Severus who really did look horrible and even more so now that he had to consume human food. Severus never had a problem eating every now and then, but he had to eat enough to keep up appearances and that was clearly too much for him. 

    If Dolores caught the look from Marvolo, the ‘I’m going to kill you, so help me Merlin’ look, she didn’t acknowledge it at all. In fact she turned to them and smiled, opening her arms. 

    “Of course, I would love to hear what you have to say on the matter, Lord Slytherin,” she nodded at Marvolo respectfully and then looked to Severus. “Mr. Snape.” 

    Marvolo really wished he could get Severus to rid himself of that muggle name.  _ Snape _ . How utterly repulsive as it was just so muggle. Marvolo hated muggles, as did Severus and so did most of his death eaters, but they wouldn’t be rude to them, especially not if they had a magical child and especially if that magical child was being well taken care of by them.    
    “I think that creatures and beings alike are feared too much, and that is only giving them power. By fearing them, we are calling them monsters, so why would they act any differently if that is what is expected of them. If they were to be treated equally, with respect and the ability to have rights and a say in their lives, then they would be much more manageable in the long run. And the wizards addicted to vampires… well, perhaps it is for the best. The weak are discarded, we shouldn’t feel bad for ridding of the weakest links and only keeping the strong wizards and witches. It’s the same concept as selective breeding, just with a better outcome for everyone, including vampires,” Marvolo sat back in his chair and looked down at his hand on his lover’s thigh. “And for their children… if they are taught that we fear them, how are the children going to learn to accept us. We persecute them for no reason other than our own fears, why should their children learn to accept us and treat us with kindness if all we have ever shown them is hate and prejudice?” 

    “Very well said,” Minister Fudge announced at that statement and Dolores looked shocked. How could the Minister agree with that obvious cretin? Lord Slytherin may have power but he was very clearly wrong in his opinions and his ideas were very skewed. Dolores didn’t know how to react to someone questioning her ideas. In fact, nobody had questioned her face-to-face in her entire life. She could feel her face flush in something between rage and embarrassment. Either way, she did not like her current feelings nor the position she was placed in. Dolores thought she should be granted respect, and especially from someone who she believed was related to her in some fashion on her wizard father’s side since they were related to the Selwyns who she firmly believed to be related to the Slytherin family, albeit very distantly. 

    “And why do you feel the need to speak up for those  _ half-breeds _ ?” Dolores finally asked, her tone sickeningly sweet. The same tone she used when she felt she was more deserving or when she was clearly in the right. This was how she got when she felt belittled and was determined to make herself seem more powerful and prominent in the eyes of others. 

    “Well, who else will speak up for them?” Marvolo smiled at her obvious frustration and she just pursed her lips together. Her eyebrows furrowed and her forehead had little lines to indicate her barely concealed rage. Sadly, Marvolo knew he needed her as well. So besides not being able to kill her due to their confrontation, he would have to manipulate her into doing what he wanted and perhaps force her to change her views. Once he was in power though, he knew he would be able to command (if not demand) her respect. She would see no better option than to bend to his will and do whatever he pleased including starting the muggle-born registrations he wanted to put in place, and although she would despise him for the rights he would grant to non-human magical beings and creatures, he would still be her superior and therefore have her cooperation. 

    “I see your point Lord Slytherin,” she smiled and pushed her plate to the center of the table and it was taken away. Upon seeing house elves, Draco wasn’t sure what to feel being an elf himself. He knew what house elves were, they were the exiled elves from the Light and Dark planes where the elves once lived, or perhaps still lived, but if he was the only elf in their realm, wouldn’t that make him the king? Would he have to establish a court first? He would need other elves in order to establish a court of elves and make himself king and he could reinstate house elves to their former glory. Or perhaps he could reinstate several and make himself an army of house elves. Why did he look so beautiful, he admitted he was quite beautiful, while house elves were definitely not beautiful but rather grotesque little things? His and Harry’s plates were taken away from them and Harry wiped his face off with a napkin before drinking the sparkling cider he had been given. 

    “And I see where your concerns lie, Ms. Umbridge, but I do not believe that we should persecute those who have no say in their affairs. There isn’t a single ‘half-breed’ on any of the boards or councils, so how could you believe that they need or wish for certain things? I agree that rules need to be put in place but some beings and creatures have been forced into horrible conditions and it isn’t fair to them. It’s not fair for us to live in comfort while they are forced to live in squalor.” 

     “Hmm,” Umbridge smiled and then soon the tables were being cleared and people were rising. An orchestra, not a symphonic orchestra -- just the string instruments and a conductor -- entered the ballroom and moved off to the side to start playing more than perfect music. There were classic waltz, ‘Christmas’ music and beautiful songs from the Romantic era of music. There was one baroque piece which really threw everyone off as nobody was expecting it. 

    Harry and Draco danced for as long as they could, trying to keep up with the adults who danced song after song without tiring. Both boys collapsed against a set of chairs pushed against the wall and out of the way of the dance floor. Pansy and Millicent looked to be having fun and when they tired they joined their friends and eventually everyone was sitting together. Mrs.  _ Prewett _ was dancing with Lucius who had a look between disdain and something akin to amusement on his face but it was clearly in his lapse of thought because it quickly changed to a mask of indifference. The twins were getting louder and louder just to see how loud the orchestra could play to play over them. Eventually they got a dirty look from their mother and they quieted down. Ron sat away from everyone, but even he had to admit he was having a little bit of fun. He eventually stood up and Luna offered to dance with him. Luna danced unlike anyone else he had ever seen but Ron just played along and before he knew it he was dancing with all the girls and boys his age and he didn’t care that they were ‘baby death eaters’ or that they were slimy Slytherins but he was having fun. Nobody was going to hurt him, so why not have fun? 

    It was nearly midnight when people started to leave the ballroom, excusing themselves back to their homes. Lucius and Narcissa saw everyone out and the children/pre-teens all said their goodbyes, even to Ron who was admittedly happier about this ball than he thought he would be, and they departed. Bellatrix took Hermione home and came back to help Narcissa gather all the items people forgot that they would be coming back over the next few days to collect. It happened every year. People forget their coats or their earrings that they for some reason removed and then they come back to collect them offering their sincerest apologies only to repeat their offense the next year. Harry and Draco were decidedly tired and as they said goodbye, Harry eventually put all the chairs together and lay out across them, resting his head on Draco’s lap. 

    Draco’s fingers threaded through Harry’s hair and Harry found himself asleep before he expected it. Marvolo picked Harry up and apparated home with Severus and Bellatrix. Draco had given Harry a kiss against his eyebrow and Harry’s face twitched a little in an adorable manner before Harry and his family departed. Draco was stripping his robes when his mother knocked on his door. Draco stopped disrobing and called for the person at his door to enter. Narcissa entered the room and she sat down on the elegant bench at the foot of his bed and smoothed out her dress as she waited for him to also take a seat. Draco sat down on the side of his bed.

    “What’s wrong?” Draco asked, interrupting the silence. 

    “Nothing’s wrong, my little dragon. You’re just growing older and I miss having you as a babe in my arms. I came to wish you a goodnight and as tomorrow is  _ Christmas Eve _ , we will ignore the silly Christian holiday and wait for presents,” she laughed softly but it faded into a sigh. “I want to let you know that I love you, and I’m always here, even if it seems like I’m not, I will always be there for you. Even when you’re a grown man, with your own family, I will be around to give you kisses and order the house elves to make you soup,” another quiet laugh. She was so nervous, she hadn’t spoken to Draco like this since he was probably too young to remember. “I saw the way you noticed Hadrian tonight, how you danced and how much fun you had. You’re only twelve, I’m not expecting you to rush off and have babies in a year, but I expect you to grow into love if you aren’t already there. I just wish I hadn’t missed so much of your life, I feel like I lost you at some point, and now you’re so old, not that you’re too old, you’re just not my little baby anymore. You will always be my son, but nobody can stay a child forever, and I find that I am missing when you relied so completely on me to ask the house elves to help you or to take care of you myself. At some point I forgot that you were my son but rather thought you were just my heir, our heir, the Malfoy heir, and now I regret not spending time with you. I hope you have a happy Yule, and remember that I will always be here for you because I love you unconditionally, no matter what you do, I will always love you. Even if I don’t like what you do, I will love you,” in fact when she saw how Severus interacted with Harry the other night, she felt as though she hadn’t been able to give Draco what he needed, she wasn’t there to offer him the emotional support and the honest care that he needed. She loved Lucius but she did not want to make Draco into a mini-Lucius. In fact, she would be much happier if Draco wasn’t like his father and decided to do what he wanted with his life. As she would be completing the same ritual as Severus, Marvolo, Harry and her son had done the previous winter holiday soon, hopefully before the holiday was over, she was scared that she would change too much and that she wouldn’t be able to offer Draco what she had neglected to give him. She felt like a horrible mother sometimes but she also knew that sometimes she was right to do what she did. Her own mother was a real wicked woman, but she loved her children, and she died loving Andromeda despite her ‘betrayal’ to the family by marrying a muggleborn. 

    “I love you too,” Narcissa had been too lost in her head but Draco had, at some point, gotten off his bed and crawled on his mother, wrapping his arms around her and hiding his face in her neck. He cried softly. “You can’t tell father that I cried, alright?” 

    “I won’t my little dragon, I won’t tell him anything about this,” she rubbed her son’s back and kissed the side of his head, her lipstick giving Draco a translucent red lip print against his white-blond hair. After a few minutes of relishing in the comfort his mother offered, Draco pulled away and rubbed his eyes free of tears and patted his face with his hands as he felt his cheeks getting puffy from the swell of emotions. 

    “At least no tears hit the ground. I would have been very shocked to see flowers sprouting from my floor,” Draco gave a soft chuckle and even though Narcissa didn’t understand, and she felt bad that she was so absent in Draco’s life that she didn’t understand what he meant, she smiled and stood up. 

    “Goodnight, Draco,” she said quietly before slipping out of his room and closing one of his double doors. Draco wanted to write to Harry about what just happened but he didn’t want to ruin the feelings he had. He didn’t want to share how personal and how good it felt for his mother to hold him back and soothe him like she had done at times before he could remember what happened. Although it was too personal to tell Harry, he wanted to let Harry know that he was loved by his parents, that his mother had basically said that she was proud because if not proud, what else could she have felt for him? His father didn’t feel pride when he looked at him, no, Lucius, his father, could never feel pride in reference to Draco. He was a bad child, he broke the rules, he didn’t want to follow his father’s footsteps, he wasn’t good enough to be the Malfoy heir. He disrobed and folded his clothes neatly even though they would be washed and hung up in his closet for him by a house elf, probably his elf Tilly. He crawled into bed and pulled the covers up over his head and continued to cry, his tears hitting the bed beneath him and with magic little flowers grew, stems sprouting up or simply budding right on his sheets and opening into a lovely little blossoms. A gardenia flower bloomed right against his sheet and then little pink carnations sprouted up and blossomed into beautiful little ruffles of soft petals. Draco didn’t bother removing the flowers but he rolled over onto the other side of his bed and went to sleep, hoping he could have good dreams despite how sad he had been feeling then. Yule was always such a rough holiday. 


	10. Chapter 10

    The Malfoy family was gathered in the sun room, presents for Draco, the Malfoy family, Severus, Marvolo, Bella, the Lestrange twins and Harry were all sorted in neat little piles under the giant tree, still in real soil, waiting to be planted in their forest. Harry and Severus were the first to floo into the house and Harry ran to Draco and tackled him back against the couch, wrapping his arms around him. 

    “I got you a great present!” Harry finally said, nuzzling his face against Draco’s shoulder. Draco smiled and sat up, rearranging Harry so that they could both be comfortable. Severus sat down and Narcissa passed him a cup of coffee. Marvolo was next and he had Draco’s present. Marvolo had Tyr beside him, walking proudly like a show pup. Tyr was large, as tall as Harry’s shoulders and as long as Severus was tall. (It looks more well-proportioned than it sounds.) Tyr walked into the room as if he owned it and he stretched out near the fire and lifted his head to look at Draco. Harry pointed to Draco and Tyr stood up and went up to Draco, rubbing his snout against the elf’s hand. Draco reached out to stroke Tyr’s head and ears. “His name is Tyr, but I guess you can change his name if you want. He’s a warg. That’s about as big as he will get though, I think, maybe…” Harry smiled as he saw Lucius’ glare. Lucius did not want a giant  _ dog _ in his perfectly lovely home, but soon Tyr was up on Draco, taking Harry’s place as Tyr licked and nuzzled against Draco. Lucius was a cold man, and he liked order, but he also liked to see his son happy, even though he didn’t often act like it. So when he saw Draco’s smile and heard his laughter, he supposed he could learn to live with the mutt. Tyr jumped up onto the loveseat and took up more space than Draco did but he curled up the best he could so he could rest his head and paws on Draco’s thighs, looking up at him with intelligent golden eyes. Draco rubbed behind his ears and under his jaw while Narcissa handed Harry the gift from Draco. Draco was nervous and excited to see Harry’s reaction to his gift. Harry slowly opened the large box up and inside was almost a dollhouse. It was a castle, a huge castle. Draco watched as Harry looked over what it was. 

    “What is it?” Harry finally conceded and asked, almost rudely. 

    “It’s a castle. You can visit it, there’s a lot of room in it, I made sure of it. I thought maybe, one day, we will live in a castle like that. We’re going to have to go somewhere once our children are living in this house or your house and why wouldn’t you like a castle. I had books shrunk and added to the library area and I had beds made and shrunk and placed in the rooms. I picked everything out. It cost me almost all this year’s allowance so you obviously got the best present, but I have to get you the best now. You’re practically my husband, I have to get you everything you want and spoil you rotten,” the way Draco said it, he took the sweetness out of the words and replaced them with snarkiness and a haughtiness that only a Malfoy could have. It was clear that Draco really meant what he was saying but he had automatically gone into a defense mode when Harry had asked what it was, especially since he did have a rather rude tone, not that he expected it to come out that way. Draco had gone to his defenses which were to play things off as a joke or to make them seem unimportant so he didn’t feel hurt when he got rejected in the end, not like he got rejected by another other than his family often however. Harry set the castle down and jumped back on Draco and Tyr pulled back and let Harry snuggle up on Draco. 

    “Thank you so much for our castle,” he looked at it and then back at Draco. “How do we get inside of it?”    
    “It’s like an expansion charm, it has to be renewed every couple of years but it actually grows around us, but in real space, it doesn’t get any bigger, so we’re still full sized but it’s still just the body for the full house that exists in a different area of space. Somewhere there is really a castle like this, somewhere and it’s unoccupied, that’s how I got it, I bought it from some guy and had my father check it to make sure it was safe for us to use. I have to get inside of it to stock it up properly but when I didn’t have time to enter the castle I just shrunk stuff, like the books and the beds. I hope you like it.” 

    “I love it, thank you so much,” Severus finally stood up and pulled Harry off of Draco and sat him down on the seat next to him as Tyr moved and went to rest by the fire again. Severus sat back down and moodily drank the coffee. He had spent the past two days vomiting everything he had consumed at the ball. So a little bit of caffeine to cause what blood he had in his system to flood with energy, was helping quite a bit. Marvolo smiled as Bella crawled on the floor and started handing presents out. They all got extraordinary things that they were either going to use straight away or didn’t really know when to use them. There was very little in between ground with this year’s turnout of gifts. By lunch, Marvolo had taken Severus back to Grimmauld Place and actually said that he was going feed Severus, even though nobody fooled themselves into thinking that Severus didn’t drink any of Marvolo’s blood. The rest of the family had gone out to the frosty garden, armed with warming charms to keep away the frost and with plates, bowls and cups of steaming hot food they sat around and had a nice day. Tyr enjoyed being out of Harry’s room and he really enjoyed playing with the snow and chasing the little white rabbits that were hiding around the forest and in some of the decorative bushes. Tyr was smart and new not to walk on the currently-dead-but-not-gone flowers and flowerbeds and avoided them avidly. Harry and Draco had taken the castle up to Draco’s room and both boys had gone into the castle. It was almost like apparating but without the dangers of apparating as they technically didn’t have to apparate, it was just part of the castle’s features. The first thing that Harry did was run into the bedroom and run across the cold stone floor, as his bare little feet were freezing, and jumped on the bed. He crawled under the blankets and called for Draco to join him. Draco checked the few rooms and found that Harry had indeed found the largest and nicest room. The room that Draco had created for them. There was a large crimson rug with beautiful roses and embroidering decorating it at the foot of the bed. At the foot of the bed there was a forest green cushioned bench with purposely aged silver claw like feet. The bed was four posters and had long, wispy green curtains that billowed due to the wind that came in through the purposely opened window. The sheets were cotton and soft as could be. They matched the foot of the bed but their comforter was large and black with intricate detailing in green and silver. It looked very much like one could image the Slytherin rooms to look like but it was much nicers, bigger, it was more extravagant and very obviously styled by Draco. There was a mural against one wall of a basilisk and a dragon with extremely detailed flowers and then little fairies fluttering around. The fairies moved and they flew across the mural freely. There was a chandelier in the center of the room and it was silver as the rest and the candles were white and dripped wax romantically yet they never made a mess and rarely burned out. The perks of being a wizard. 

    Harry waited under the covers for Draco to join him and Draco got in on the other side of the bed. He was just as cold as Harry so when his fae friend grabbed him and pulled him against his chest, he felt relieved that he wasn’t the one who had to initiate the contact. Soon there was a howl and they new that Tyr, the smart and precious animal that he was, had found the way into their castle and soon enough the warg padded into the room and jumped on the bed, stretching his body out across their feet. Draco shifted so he could hold Harry but Harry shifted around again so he could hold Draco. Draco let himself be held against Harry’s chest, his body tingling with the cold but also tingling due to the new heat that the blankets and Harry provided. 

    “I never want to leave,” Harry finally whispered into Draco’s hair and he couldn’t help but agree. He could wait out his days living in the peace and quiet of his castle with Harry by him and even Tyr was already an addition to their little home. He was very warm too but he was heavy and had pulled the blankets to him leaving their shoulders uncovered. Their feet didn’t reach the bottom of the bed, in fact they still had several feet to go, if they could even grow several feet taller (maybe one foot at the most, but not several. The bed was just huge). 

    “I love you,” Draco reached up to play with the hem of Harry’s shirt and Harry smiled. 

    “I love you too.” 

    They remained cuddled up in bed until the outside conditions became extreme. 

    “This is in your bedroom right?” Harry asked as snow flew into the room in flurries. Draco shut the window and locked it. It rattled with an annoyingly steady pulse. 

    “Yes, the castle we’re in is technically in my bedroom, but the castle that we’re in is also somewhere that is having a blizzard right now. Same reality, different space, it’s really hard to explain, just trust me. We’re safe and we can get back to my room, we just have to take the door that leads us back to my room, it leads us the a wall that will teleport us back outside of the castle. The real castle, by the way, doesn’t have this door, it’s a feature exclusive to this  _ dollhouse _ ,” Harry didn’t want to leave yet though but he was done cuddling, he wanted to do something. He walked around the house, hopping from foot to foot as his toes started to freeze, it felt like. Harry passed a door and then went back, peering inside the dark room. Harry pushed the door open and pulled his wand out. He cast a lumos and the room was nearly blank but there was ritualistic items around. Harry called for Draco and Draco approached hesitantly. 

    “What is this for?” Harry threw the ball of light into the air and it illuminated the room, giving it an eerie glow. Draco lit the candles around the room. He lit one and all the others lit themselves. Hundreds of candles wrapped around the room and gave a warm light and comforting heat, but it didn’t distract from the obvious ritual room that was in their castle. Draco kicked a dagger across the floor and crossed his hands behind his back. “You’re not going to kill me like some weird serial-killer are you?” Harry joked but for a moment he was honestly scared that something bad was going to happen. 

    “A cereal what? What does muggle breakfast have to do with this?” Draco reached down and picked up a few bowls, stacking them on top of each other and then putting them in a cabinet against the wall, a cabinet that’s top was covered in dripping candles. 

    “I’m serious,” Harry was scared now. “What is this?” 

    “It’s a ritual room. Don’t be scared, I promise nothing bad will happen,” Draco paused. “Wow, I wouldn’t believe that if I were you, but I mean I would,” Draco sighed. “Okay, so some of the books in the library, I got them from Knockturn Alley of course and many of them I had never seen before. So I brought them here and when I would take a break from decorating I came up here and read. It was quiet and there was this soothing singing that came from in here. Don’t worry, I made sure nothing in here was cursed and it isn’t haunted. There are no ghosts in this castle,” Draco looked around and grabbed a book that was open on the ground and picked it up. “It’s a warding book. It is really dark magic, but it also gives the strongest wards I’ve ever seen. It’s sort of like the Black family wards. They used dark magic for those and they are so powerful, even stronger than Hogwarts, which also used dark magic to create. Anyway, I was warding the house and I got a little carried away and I spent a few days here practicing magic and just doing  _ stuff _ . I added a few rooms, with my father’s help, and even asked for your father’s input on some of the magic I cast around this place. He said it was safe, and I trust him, I also trust my father, but your father is different. Your father wants to make sure  _ you’re _ safe, just like I want to make sure  _ you’re _ safe. 

    “So we did some rituals. It was only dark in here because the lights dissipated during the last ritual. It ate up all the surrounding magic, in the room at least. There are still very strong and secure wards around the property and even the figure has some strong protections on it. For example, it cannot be shrunk any further, it definitely cannot be shrunk when we’re inside of it and there is the door that leads back out into the last place were were out outside of the castle. In this case, we will go back to my room. This room is the magical center of this castle, it thrums with magic, it feels like electricity,” Draco reached out and tapped Harry’s arm. “Feel it? That’s energy and it’s mine, and I put it here to keep us safe… if you still want to stay here with me. I know that our contract technically isn’t permanent and if you want to leave then you can, but when I met you, I just knew a hurt little boy, someone that needed help and someone who needed someone to care about him. He was my age, you were my age, and when I got to know you I found out how brilliant you were and still are. I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay now that I built you a castle, I mean, it’s always going to be here if you ever want it, but I don’t want to scare you away either and I realize that I can be a little extreme,” Harry chuckled at the ‘little extreme’ part and Draco gave him a ‘look’. Harry nodded and waited for Draco to continue. “I wanted to make a place that you felt safe in, comfortable, I want to make you happy because you make me happy. Perhaps it’s the fact that you’re the only person I really like and enjoy being around, but I like to think it’s because I love you because I’m really sure that’s what is going on, I think I really love you and I don’t know how to just show it like a normal person.

    “I never saw my parents interact, I never knew how people were supposed to act. My mother used to tell me stories about how ‘lovely’ my father was, and how he bought her nice things and gave her anything she wanted, and I thought that maybe that’s what you would want, so I’m going to give you everything. When I get things I think I get happy, I’m pretty sure that’s how it works and I want you to be happy and when you’re older and if you aren’t happy with me then you can keep this castle because it will always be from me to you and it’s really yours, but I really want it to be ours,” Draco smiled and turned his head to look away from Harry, he felt like he had been staring too long and that he was being weird now. “I mean, it’s up to you. We’re just kids, but the offer is always there. When you told me you wanted to marry me, I was sure you didn’t know what that word meant and now that we can actually be together I want to keep you with me. I can’t wait until we can actually get married and you will rule the world and I’ll be your right hand, I’ll be your second in command because I’ll always be with you, I’ll always be there when you need me or want me.

    “Always…” 

    Harry started crying, he wiped his eyes and nose and held his face in his hands. Unlike Draco, he didn’t feel ashamed when he cried because crying was natural, nobody ever made fun of him or told him that crying was weak so he didn’t feel like any of those things were true. His crying turned into sobbing and his knees wobbled. Draco held him to him to support him. Harry continued to sob on Draco and finally he pulled back. He felt inadequate, he felt juvenile, but he also felt so warmed, cherished, he felt loved and it was a really good feeling. He had felt loved before when Marvolo held him when he was sad or when Severus read to him and carried him to bed, and he felt loved every time ‘I love you’ came from Draco’s lips but Draco’s rant was so sad and Harry didn’t want Draco to ever feel like he wouldn’t want him because he would, he was sure he would. Nobody else was like Draco and all he wanted was Draco. Harry felt Draco pick him up and carry him back to the comfort of their giant bed and he set him down before pulling the covers over him. Harry reached out for Draco and Draco bumped Harry as playfully as he could at the moment before rolling onto his side and wrapping his arms around Harry. Harry cried and reached up to twist Draco’s long blond hair between his fingers, sometimes wrapping it around his index finger and making little loops before letting it fall back down against Draco. His hair was long like Lucius’ but Draco looked so much handsomer than Lucius, at least to Harry. 

    “I’m sorry, I felt really sad and happy and just a lot of different things just then,” Harry said as Draco shifted to wrap a leg around Harry’s hip. Draco touched the braid down Harry’s back and exhaled deeply. 

    “That’s alright,” Draco pressed a kiss against Harry’s forehead. “I meant all of it.” 

    “I know,” Harry choked back another sob and he cried until he fell asleep. Draco just thought about what had happened. He hadn’t told anyone anything like that before. He never felt anything similar enough to tell anybody. He wasn’t very old, but he wasn’t too young, he had enough years on him to experience some things. He heard the girls, like Tracey Davis, talking about how she ‘loves’ so-and-so from whatever-house and he can’t help but to scowl. No, she doesn’t  _ love _ anybody. That’s not the right word, they were lessening the value by saying things like that and using that word so frivolously. People didn’t love, they didn’t use the words  _ right _ . For example, if they  _ loved _ Quidditch then they must have had some really deep feelings for that bludger or snitch because that meant something very intense. He wasn’t sure if he had ever felt anything like it before, and he wasn’t sure if he had experienced enough to make an informed decision about true love, but he was almost positive that what he felt was love. Overwhelming, joyous, intense, beautiful and tingly love. He could curse the world for Harry if that’s what he wanted and he would do anything that Harry wanted, and he would do anything in his power to keep him happy and safe even if that means he wouldn’t be in his arms, he cared for Harry because he wanted to, because he felt the desire to do these things for him and even if Harry didn’t want a relationship like the one that Draco had thought Harry wanted when he first asked about being contracted to him meant, then that was okay as long as Draco could still do whatever he could in his power to do the things he wanted to do for Harry. 

    Harry slept quite peacefully after such a long cry and it wasn’t until someone knocked on their door that Draco realized how late it had been. Tyr was a good warg and he stood at the door to make sure whoever came through was safe and wouldn’t cause his masters any harm. It was only Narcissa and Bellatrix and they both entered the room as concerned and loving mothers, even if Bellatrix (even though she was crazier) was much more affectionate and ‘mother-like’. Draco looked over his shoulder and their mothers sat down on the bench at the foot of their bed. 

    “How long has been asleep?” Narcissa asked quietly. 

    “I don’t know. A long time. How long have we been gone?” 

    “About six and a half hours. It’s nearly ten, we just wanted to make sure everything was alright,” Narcissa held her hands in her lap while Bella leaned forward, resting her head on her crossed arm over the bottom of the bed. “Have you two been sleeping the entire time?” 

    “No, Harry wandered into my ritual room and I said somethings and apparently Harry was feeling a lot of different things at once and he started sobbing. I brought him in here and he fell asleep. We were in bed for about an hour before we stumbled into the ritual room. So we’ve been in here maybe four hours, give or take.” 

    “Oh, well you missed dinner. Would you like us to send Tilly or are you fine for now?” 

    “We’re alright, thank you,” Draco felt Harry stir slightly and he tugged the band that held Harry’s hair in a braid out of his hair as gently as he could before gently separating the pieces of the braid into one wavy blanket of hair before he ran his fingers through it. Harry’s breath hitched and it was almost as if he was about to cry again but he blinked away the dried tears. His cheeks were sticky and still slightly puffy. His eyes were crusted with tears and sleep and he lifted his hands to rub the gunk out of his eyes.    
    “Who are you talking to?” Harry looked up before he looked down at Narcissa and Bellatrix. Harry smiled at them before shifting back into the position he had slept in. “Oh,” Harry reached out to hold Draco’s hand, he held it as if letting go meant he would never see him again and although it hurt a little, like his bones were crushing, he allowed Harry to grip onto him. “Can we sleep here tonight, mum, Mrs. Malfoy?” 

    “I don’t see why not,” Bella said and Narcissa smiled in agreement. Narcissa stood up and kissed Draco’s forehead and Bella kissed both of their cheeks. “If you need anything, call for Kreacher,” Bella added.

    “You can also call for Dobby and Tilly, they care about you both very much,” Narcissa left the room with Bella. Bella sighed as they made their way up to the door that led back into Draco’s room. Bella was glad that Harry seemed so happy, like he was in a place he loved being, and Narcissa was glad that Draco had someone that had given him the love and care that he needed when she wasn’t there, when she hadn’t been a good mother. Both mothers went back to the sunroom where Marvolo was mostly sleeping while looking down at a book. Lucius was ‘in his study’ which meant he had likely gone to bed. He had to go to a meeting the next day due to Dolores Umbridge not having any family and her enjoyment in torturing people with rants about ‘half-breeds’ and the likes. Marvolo had been quite the blood bag for Severus, and his lover was looking much healthier, but it was clear that Marvolo wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand that Severus had for him. They would prepare for the ceremony within the next five days and then on the sixth day, on the full moon, they would go through with the same ritual that changed Harry, Draco, Severus and Marvolo the previous year. Of course, the date for the ritual was supposed to be within the first term but there had been so many delays that it was decided the best option would be over the winter holidays when most of them were mostly free (since Severus had to get back to the school and watch over the remaining students for the holidays). 

    Harry pulled back from Draco and opened his eyes to stare at  _ his _ precious future potions master. Draco smiled down at him with sleepy eyes. 

    “Did you not get any sleep?” 

    “I was watching you, I didn’t want to sleep in case you woke up,” Draco said as he stretched his arms up and yawned, reaching down to cover his mouth quickly before Harry could see inside his mouth as he did not think it was any form of attractive to yawn and show the inside of your mouth. Nobody wanted to see the inside of anybody’s mouth. Draco stretched his legs and rolled his ankle before flexing his toes. He had been cramped in the same position since Harry had fallen asleep. Harry and Draco slept comfortably in  _ their _ castle, together, with Tyr watching over them as they slept. 

 

    Harry woke up with fur in his face. During the night, Tyr had decided to lay right between them and both boys were spooning with the warg. Draco was still asleep when Harry pulled away from Tyr who snored just as loudly as the boys in the dorms did sometimes. Harry reached down and rubbed Tyr’s tummy, scratching down his ribs softly but also rough enough for the warg to feel it. Tyr’s leg shook and he finally jumped up, startling Draco away. Tyr got up and whined and walked in circles around the door. Draco propped himself up on his elbows.    
    “The warg is toilet trained?” Draco finally asked. Harry got out of bed and opened the door for Tyr who ran up to the door, which he nosed open, and he left back to Draco’s other bedroom. Harry got back in bed. It was still chilly outside and getting out from under the warm covers just exaggerated how cold it actually was outside of the bed. Harry sat up,pulling the blankets up with him as he rested against the cool surface of the wood backboard. Draco forced himself up to sit up as well. “Tilly!” Draco called and Tilly popped into the room. “Can Harry get some of the desserts from the Yule ball and can I have some fresh fruit, whatever kinds but lots of strawberries,” Draco groaned as Tilly popped out of the room to get their breakfast. 

    “You’re going to let me eat all the sweets from the ball and you’re going to eat  _ strawberries _ ?” 

    “I was going to ask for some tea too, do you want something? Hot chocolate? Eggnog?” Draco didn’t seem to get why Harry found him so amusing and Harry just nodded. 

    “Both of course. I’m indulging,” Harry waited and soon Tilly placed a wooden tray that was used to serve food in bed covered in the trifle, the mousse and the pavlova. Harry asked for eggnog and hot chocolate but he wanted there to be some pumpkin or butterscotch flavouring either one of the drinks or both, he asked for blackberry sage tea for Draco who just nodded his thanks as Harry was spot on with what tea he wanted. Tilly came back with their drinks and Draco dismissed her. Draco picked the grapes out of his bowl of fruit because they weren’t crunchy enough. He was allowed to be picky when it came to his grapes because Tilly should know him better by this point in his life. Draco did however enjoy the fruit that wasn’t really in season but somehow the house elves managed to procure anyway like mangoes and pineapples. He sipped his tea before turning to look at Harry who was practically guzzling eggnog. Harry looked over at Draco who was staring at him and he lowered his glass. “It’s really good, and it’s… really good… so is that stuff any good?” Harry pointed to the messy little orange blobs. The texture looked horrid but Draco stabbed a piece with his fork and ate it. 

    “Yeah, it’s pretty good. It’s plenty sweet enough. I’d die if I had to eat that trifle. The spice cakes are soaked in sweetened condensed milk and then covered in butterscotch sauce,” Draco tried to act surprised but it wasn’t a surprise about how poorly Harry ate, but then it wasn’t going to kill him and it honestly didn’t even make him any plumper either because Harry was still tiny. They stayed in bed all day and they did the same for the next day although they raided the library for books they hadn’t read (which was most, if not all, of the books). 

   The boys didn’t come home until it was the night when Narcissa, Lucius, Bellatrix and Barty would be transforming. Much like the ritual before, they had to gather the blood of a veela, naga, vampire and werewolf, however they had to find a useful werewolf and had asked one of the more loyal in the pack that Fenrir had previously led for assistance. Draco was ready to entangle the werewolf in the trees when the blood was gathered. Once the blood was collected, the tree branches around the wolf wrapped out and grabbed onto the transformed beast and kept him contained despite his slashing and whining to be released. Severus did the ritual for them since he was had the patience to mix up the dittany paste and the blood without throwing a fit or complaining. He handed the bowl to Bellatrix who took a drink of the blood and then handed it to Narcissa who drank from the bowl then handed it to Lucius who followed suit and then passed it to Barty who finished the concoction. Then like flies, in order, they dropped. Once Severus had given the naga and veela blood replenishing potions he escorted the vampire from the previous ritual had offered his blood. Chris had stayed to help watch over the four who were changing as well as speak with Severus. Severus was a Prime Vampire, or Prime Sanguine. They were usually monsters of myth but they had at one point been real and to meet one was shocking and truly an honour. Of course Chris charmed Severus thoroughly before excusing himself to leave, but not before telling Severus the floo address to reach him at. Chris had only left after Bella, Cissy, Lucius and Barty were safe and stabilized. 

    “What did he want to talk about so intensely?” Marvolo asked, taking a seat beside Severus. Severus smirked and looked at Marvolo who was trying to hide his jealousy. 

    “For a Dark Lord you are awfully obvious.” 

    “Perhaps I want to appear obvious in order to manipulate you into what I want. Have you thought about that?” Marvolo asked, moving over Severus, placing his hands on his chest as he straddled Severus’ thighs and pushed Severus back against the couch. Severus smiled and he could smell the pulse of Marvolo beating steadily but then, there it goes, it started to beat faster and faster. Marvolo was becoming excited and his blood moved quickly, it travelled fast and it made him flush and warm. So warm under his fingertips. 

    “And what do you want from me?” Draco walked downstairs after checking on his mother and father, he was just leaving to grab something warm for he and Harry since it was still cold and despite the heating charms nothing warms one up quite like a cup of hot tea or chocolate. Draco was not prepared to see what he walked in on. He walked past them, pretending and acting as if he was fine and nothing was out of the ordinary. He would never admit to being embarrassed and he would definitely not admit to feeling himself blush at the ideas of what could be happening or even more so of what would happen next. Draco grabbed a handful of colourful Christmas candies, filled with chocolate, and searched through the cabinets. He had never realized how much food they had or how cold the cooling cabinet was. He picked out a bunch of different things and did his best to carry it all. Why hadn’t they called a house elf? Well, Draco didn’t want the house elves to leave their parents who they were watching over, or they were outside trying to clean up around an angry werewolf. No doubt they were busy enough and Draco, truly thinking about being an elf and his relationship with the house elves, decided he could get the food he wanted himself. He was twelve years old, he was able to function and he should know his was around his own kitchen enough to gather what they wanted. 

     Not knowing his way around the kitchen as much as he thought he had, it took Draco a while to locate what he wanted to find. He did find everything eventually. His haul included chilled jars of eggnog (to which he added what he was sure was pumpkin because it tasted like pumpkin when he tested it), the candies that he had shoved into his pockets (which, thankfully, didn’t melt and get his clothes all sticky), an entire pan of blueberry-cream cheese bread pudding (that he levitated behind him because he was no risking dropping the pan and getting everything messy or dropping it and breaking the glass pan it was held in), and he got himself a bag of grapes with the hopes to get the crunchiest and best grapes before anyone else has a chance to take them and leave him with the gross ones. Draco walked back through the living room and Severus was latched onto Marvolo who was making obscene noises. Of course, the little elf walked as fast as he could and practically ran up the stairs and into his room, shutting the door behind him after the pan of bread pudding made it inside. He set everything on his bed and then pulled out forks and spoons. Harry twisted the lid open on one of the jars of eggnog and started to drink it. He paused after he took several large gulps. 

    “Did you add pumpkin to this?” 

    “I did. Isn’t that what you wanted?” Draco sat down on his bed causing the bed to dip. The bed in his bedroom wasn’t even close to being as big or as nice as the bed he had gotten them for their castle (every time he thought of  _ their _ castle he got so excited that they had something like that together). 

    “I didn’t think you would remember… thank you,” Harry looked up over the rim of the jar he was drinking from to see Draco nod at him before he started picking out grapes and examining them, testing them to see if they were the right firmness of which was suitable to eat. Harry ate almost half of the pan of bread pudding and promptly fell asleep, almost kicking the glass pan off the bed several times. He had downed both jars of eggnog as well so Draco had no idea how he could sleep after consuming so much sugar, but Harry was definitely out of it. Draco was finished with his grapes and had just taken his first bite of the bread pudding when there was a soft knock at his door. It slowly opened and Marvolo stood outside. He looked ‘sexed up’ quite honestly and Draco could see the red marks on his neck that he reached up to cover when he saw Draco staring. 

    “Just checking on you, is Harry already asleep?” Draco just nodded but the question was more rhetoric as it was a way to shock that he cared enough to come and check in on them. He didn’t want them doing anything stupid, or so he reasoned with himself -- that part of himself that denied the need to feel, that part that he was trying to fix like the rest of him was fixed. Draco picked up the empty jars and twisted the lids back on them before setting them on the bedside table. 

    “He’s been asleep for a little while now, sir. Is everybody from the ritual okay? How long were we out?” 

    “I believe we didn’t wake up for three or so days, I’m not sure, but hopefully they will recover faster. We went into the ritual knowing more about it now then we did the first time, so I’m sure that everyone is going to be fine. Do you want me to call a house elf to collect this stuff? I know the Malfoy elves are busy but Kreacher is more than available to assist you,” Marvolo offered a smile, his thumb rubbing against the red marks that littered the right side of his neck awkwardly. 

    “That would be nice, I’ll call him, I want to eat some more of this,” Draco motioned to the glass pan of bread pudding and Marvolo nodded. 

    “I will be staying the one of the guest rooms, the turquoise one, if you need anything you can come find me and I’ll try to help you to the best of my ability. Goodnight,” Marvolo stepped back and pulled the door shut. He walked back down the stairs and Severus was sleep on the couch, his body limp and pulsing with delicious life. Marvolo picked Severus up and took him to the turquoise room and placed him in bed before he went to the Malfoy library. He was going to find the little crevice that Draco had found because he wants to see what ancient knowledge is being stored away there. Both Draco and Harry had managed to get in so it couldn’t be too insanely difficult to find. 

    After finishing third of the remaining bread pudding Draco called for Kreacher who happily cleaned the food away. Draco curled up in bed, but he couldn’t sleep just yet; he wasn’t all that tired. He closed his eyes and reached out to touch Harry. Harry was warm and belly was firm from how much he had eaten, Draco traced a pattern on his stomach, where Harry’s shit had slid up. He had told Harry that such behaviour was inappropriate but he understood the draw to do such things. He wanted to be in close contact with him, he wanted to somehow merge with him, he wanted to be close, as close as someone could get to another person. 

    Draco had a better childhood than Harry by far, but that didn’t mean it was a  _ good _ childhood. His father had him trained and tutored, he learned from his uncle Severus and sometimes his father would drag him into the study and explain concepts that he thought Draco was old enough to understand, which was more than Draco could understand at the time. He had figured them out eventually though. Lucius was expecting a carbon copy of himself, someone proper and regal, someone who could lead the Malfoy family up into even more glory. They were the cream of the crop and Draco had been raised knowing that he was above many people. When he had first seen Harry he had thought his parents had found some mudblood and he didn’t even want to consider that but he also had heard how concerned his mother and Severus had been. The Dark Lord was taken enough with the boy, with Harry, that he adopted him. The Dark Lord! Everything that was published, all the things that were said by the rest of the wizarding world were wrong about the dark, they were wrong about Harry, they were all wrong. Harry was so special but he was no Saviour. He needed to be saved, he needed to be protected and cherished. He was strong but he would be saving no one by sacrificing himself, he was too precious to let him becoming a martyr. 

    And he knew that his mother had tried, and he knew that his father cared about him in a way that the Malfoys cared for each other but when he saw the love that Harry got, love that was given so freely no matter the situation or the way it made them appear, no matter how  _ weak _ it made anybody look, it made him jealous, but he would never envy Harry because he knew that Harry deserved that happiness more than anybody else he knew. 

    His fingers curled and and Harry let out a keening sound as Draco’s fingers dragged across Harry’s stomach, just below his navel. Was this  _ right _ ? What did that word even mean? Draco knew that this was probably too much for what they were ‘allowed’ to do, but he wanted to do it. He wanted to make more noises like that come from Harry’s mouth. Harry’s hand drifted down to Draco’s and he wrapped his fingers around Draco’s.    
    “Draco…” Harry whispered, his eyes opening slightly. “Please don’t touch me like that, I don’t like waking up, it reminds me of bad things. Touch me when I can touch you back,” Harry lifted Draco’s hand up to his face and he kissed Draco’s fingers before he put Draco’s hand on his chest, still holding his hand. 

    “I’m sorry.” 

    “It’s okay, I was just… I got scared for a second,” Harry’s eyes closed again and he went back to sleep. 

 

    Bellatrix lunged forward and fell onto her stomach as her shoulderblades broke and large wings forced themselves from her back, ripping through her skin. She didn’t realize she was screaming until she saw everyone run into the room. There were abnormally large wings attached to her back now and Bella’s were like a raven’s wings: blue-black and majestic. She panted as she felt her hands change, her fingernails pointed into sharp daggers, but they were still nice enough to pass as human with them. How she was going to glamour away giant wings, she didn’t know. Narcissa was up next, also shouting as white-blonde wings erupted from her shoulder blades and her nails sharpened into claws. Lucius was next and much like Draco his ears grew long and pointed and there was something much more  _ sharp _ about his already angular face. Barty lunged forward and held his chest as his body tensed and then he fell back as his muscles all started to relax. He didn’t seem to change at all. 

    “You have wings,” Harry said dumbly as he approached Bella and reached out to touch her wings. They flapped for a moment. “Did we figure out what you are?” 

    The runes ‘ᚨᚱ’ were branded on the right wrist of both Bellatrix and Narcissa and Bellatrix held out her wrist to Harry. 

    “Does this mean anything?” Marvolo took a step forward and looked at the runes. Narcissa stood up and extended her arm, showing her wrist beside her sister’s. 

    “It means, you ‘ride on as one of the Ӕsir’ or ‘the gods’. I think you’re Valkyries. It makes sense. Valkyries are females who are warriors, healers and the deliverers of souls. They are often born in groups of three, just like you and your sisters,” Marvolo reached out and held Harry back because Harry was about to charge forward and jump on his mother and they didn’t know how she would react to that. Valkyries were many things but mothers was rarely mentioned. They weren’t like the Furies who were violently protective of their children, they were similar as they were warriors that had a code to follow, although the Valkyrie’s codes were given directly from the Gods, or more accurately the Goddess Freyja, the Queen of the Valkyries. Draco walked past the commotion of his mother, aunt, Harry and the Dark Lord and went to his father who was already putting up glamours to hide his ears. Lucius loved being a pureblood, and perhaps that’s why they managed to be such powerful beings rather than something weak, but he wasn’t even human anymore. It was going to be the hardest on Lucius who had so much pride on what he had once been and now he was forced to do and be something else. Draco let his own glamour drop even though his father had just put his up. Draco sat on the bed beside his father. 

    “You’re like me,” Draco said as calm as he could so he didn’t give away how he was feeling. He wasn’t sure if he was happy that he and his father were the same or if he was disappointed that the fates were trying to force them to be similar to each other. Lucius didn’t change, he didn’t bow to anyone besides the Dark Lord and even then he was in a position that gave him freedom to express his opinions without fear of punishment or humiliation. Draco’s father wouldn’t change so it was obvious that Draco would have to be the one to change, but he didn’t want to. “Or it’s actually me that’s like you.” 

    Lucius looked down at his son and he saw his son, a piece of himself by extension and he had never seen him as he saw him then. He saw a competent child who would hopefully grow into someone he could be proud of, not that he wasn’t already proud of Draco, but he definitely wouldn’t let Draco know that lest he get a large ego. Draco reached up and grabbed his father’s hand experimentally. He hadn’t been able to hold his father’s hand or even hug Lucius for so long without a lecture afterward about proper conduct or rejection and Lucius didn’t draw his hand back. 

    “I promise that everything is much more beautiful now that we can see the life thrumming through the Earth. Did you speak with Magic?” 

    “Yes.” 

    “Good, then you know that we have some unique powers. Would you like to see how our garden and forest looks now that you can appreciate it more?” Draco stood up, still holding onto his father’s hand, and Lucius rose to his feet. He had been taken out of his formal robes and placed in soft pants and a thick jumper. Narcissa pulled away from Marvolo as he spoke with Bella who had a million questions and she stood up and grabbed her husband’s other hand. Draco led them outside and though they were both cold, Lucius could see the life around him, the magic that pulsed through the air, the energy that surrounded them. It was indescribable and so amazing. Narcissa pulled Draco back against her and her wings flapped as a breeze shifted her feathers almost to a point of it tickling. Soon everyone else joined them as well, all besides Severus who was back at Hogwarts. Bellatrix hopped on her feet in a similar to fashion as Harry had done back in their castle before she ran back inside and got her shoes on. She went back outside and flapped her wings consciously. 

    “I wonder if we can fly?” Bella finally said and Narcissa laughed at her sister before it grew silent once again. It was just so comfortable to be with the entire family. Although it would be better with Severus, he wasn’t available. They all went back inside and Lucius got acquainted with food and Bella and Harry talked about having wings, Harry’s own wings coming out. Harry had wings, he didn’t know how to use them and they were rather small to support his body, but they were those of a barn owl with pale orange over pure white feathers and decorated with brown and silver speckles. The extent of his year worth of experimentation with his wings was that he could draw them into his body so they weren’t noticeable and he could allow them to escape from his shoulders without too much pain (although it would likely never stop being uncomfortable). In his dreams, Magic’s child had been able to turn into a barn owl, so he was sure he could do that as well but he hadn’t been able to turn himself fully into an owl yet and he was nervous to fully shift into an animal because he would be defenseless without a wand, or at least he didn’t know any wandless magic and he would have to also be non verbal magic as he would be an owl. 

    The rest of the holiday was quite calm. Almost too calm, which unnerved Severus and Marvolo greatly who could only expect a lot of problems once the term started again. 


End file.
